source: punchng.com
Billionaire philanthropist, Bill Gates,
predicted doom for Africa when he told the American Society for the
Advancement of Science in Seattle, USA, that Africa was in danger of up
to 10 million deaths, should the continent be hit by coronavirus. This
was due, he added, to the continent’s familiar challenges of poor health
systems.
Luckily for Africa, the number of cases
has not entered an exponential stage, unlike in Italy where the
confirmed cases almost run neck-to-neck with the number of deaths. As of
Sunday, March 22 alone, over 651 Italians had succumbed to the
pandemic, thereby bringing the total number of deaths in that country to
over 5,000.
In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous
country, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Health and the
Centre for Disease Control have been very active in rallying resources
and logistics to contain the spread of the disease. At the time of
writing, the country has recorded 35 confirmed cases and one death. That
number may not represent the actual spread of the incidence of the
pandemic in the country, as the cases cluster around areas that are in
proximity with the designated test centres and the points of entry into
the country.
Although the government has moved to
impose a ban on travels into Nigeria from the coronvirus hotbeds, a
considerable number of suspected cases from badly hit countries had
already gained entry before the ban. For this reason, we must be worried
for the country.
While the global statistics of confirmed
cases have shot over 300,000 with about 13,000 deaths recorded
worldwide, Nigerians are still treating the pandemic with levity. The
country already lacks the infrastructure to handle the seismic effects
of an epidemic of the proportion we see in Italy, but there are other
socio-cultural factors, which add to this to provide a gloomy prognosis,
should COVID-19 gain a foothold in the country. These are outlined
below and readers must take care not to be found guilty of any.
Number one thing to worry about
Nigerians in the face of this pandemic is the ‘Not My Portion Syndrome.’
This concept has been popularised by a University of Nigeria consultant
obstetrician and gynaecologist, Prof Cyril Dim. NMPS is based on the
religious belief of many Christians that they are exempted from diseases
or illnesses, hence they become complacent about health checks or
safety. This may explain why most churches in Nigeria remain open and
public events still go on, despite the initiative of most countries to
shut down, including the capitals of the popular religious groups in
Nigeria: Mecca, Rome and England. Religious leaders have a primary duty
to secure their members. By remaining open, they are unfortunately going
to be the major factor for a high incidence of COVID-19 in the country.
The second issue to worry about is the
reluctance of Nigerians to obey instructions. This one has nothing to do
with religious beliefs. Our people seem to be generally unconcerned
about safety and precautions until they are directly affected. For
example, the NCDC has called on individuals showing the symptoms of the
disease to self-isolate. However, we have heard that some of the cases
already went to general hospitals before the NCDC became involved, even
though toll-free lines to contact them were made available. This is the
wrong attitude in a scenario where the goal is to limit spread.
Conspiracy theories also constitute a
major obstacle to efforts aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19.
When it was announced that an Italian infected with the virus was being
isolated in Lagos, many Nigerians on social medial called it a hoax
contrived by the government to siphon money. To this moment, there are
naysayers who remain incredulous about the existence of coronavirus in
Nigeria. They include popular personalities like Femi Fani-Kayode, who
recently shared a lengthy conspiracy theory on Facebook that COVID-19
was a lie concocted by the Illuminati in concert with the World Health
Organisation to create fear in the world and then launch a lethal
vaccine that would reduce the world’s population. Such nonsense has
continued to influence the attitudes of many people, regarding response
to calls for social distancing and other containment measures.
Hopefully, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar recently announcing
on Twitter that his son had been infected with the virus, conspiracy
theories surrounding the authenticity of a coronavirus will continue to
wane.
The fourth source of concern is the
problem of general ignorance in the population. Stories have been flying
about, regarding the cure for the disease. President Donald Trump of
the United States has not helped matters, too, with his hasty press
conferences where he named chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as cures
for COVID-19. Consequently, there have been unconfirmed reports of a mad
rush for these drugs in Nigeria and when taken as a precaution as many
have erroneously recommended, this can pose more health risks. Although
hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin have been reported in the medical
journal and the US CDC website as having positive outcomes for COVID-19
patients, the public must wait until qualified medical practitioners
prescribe the needed doses, if necessary. Ignorance also means that
others may resort to local remedies or superstitions to get cure.
Finally, the fifth issue to dread is the
paucity of health facilities in the country that can cope with a
pandemic of this proportion. There are probably more cases than have
been reported by the NCDC. This suspicion is supported by the
lamentation of the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
that there are not enough testing centres in Africa, hence the cases are
underreported. Nigeria does not have the health system to cope with
millions of deaths. This further strengthens the need to adhere strictly
to preventive measures, which, unfortunately, are being ignored at the
moment.
In the final analysis, government must
enforce social distancing and allow only movements where essential needs
for survival, such as shopping are required. Citizens must in turn
cooperate and maintain strict personal hygiene to avert deaths in
millions. The clock is ticking.
Orji wrote in from the United Kingdom
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