TheCable

The Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank, a group established to respond to the coronavirus disease, has called for close monitoring of Chinese medical team assisting to eradicate the disease in Nigeria.

On Wednesday, Chinese medical team numbering about 15 doctors and nurses had arrived the country to aid in efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Osagie Enahire, minister of health, had earlier said the doctors were coming with the donated supplies to support the country’s fight against COVID-19.

But the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had rejected the idea which it described as an embarrassment to the membership of the association and other health workers.

In a statement on Saturday, Atedo Peterside and Abubakar Mohammed, chairman and vice chairman of Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank, called for close monitoring of the Chinese team to ensure their safety and Nigeria’s sovereignty.

The officials said now is the time for the ministry of health and the NMA to collaborate and seek ways to eradicate the disease.

“Nigeria is now faced with a pandemic of unprecedented proportions that has devastated people and economies across the globe. It is for these reasons and more, that the April 5 and April 9, 2020 statements from the NMA are worrying,” the statement read.

“The Anap COVID-19 Team concludes that the opposing positions of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the NMA on the involvement of foreign physicians and healthcare workers (whatever may be the pros and cons of the current Chinese intervention) to combat COVID-19 are not in the interest of the Nigerian public.

“We expect close monitoring of all foreign personnel while in the country for the safety of the foreign team and above all, Nigeria’s own sovereignty.

“The Anap COVID-19 Team calls on the Federal Government and the FMOH to engage with the NMA immediately on the serious concerns and recommendations made by the NMA in its statements.

“We urge the NMA to review its positions and remain open and strategic about managing all offers to support Nigeria’s medical capacity to beat the deadly COVID-19.

“The FMOH and the NMA are indispensable to driving and executing healthcare strategy in Nigeria. Strategic alignment of purpose, transparent communication, close collaboration and collective accountability are essential to the successful delivery in times of stability, and even more so in times of crisis such as now.

“We need the FMOH and the NMA to collaborate at this critical time otherwise the Nigerian people will be victims of this failure of leadership within the healthcare sector.”

Nigeria has recorded 305 cases of COVID-19. While 58 patients have recovered, seven persons have died from the disease.