Osagie Ehanire,
minister of health, says the medical team being expected from China is coming
into the country with more than a million masks.
Speaking at the
media briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19, the minister said
the Chinese team will bring with them “globally scarce supplies”.
“A Chinese team is
arriving in Nigeria soon. And they are bringing with them globally scarce
supplies,” he said.
“The equipment
includes PPEs and consumables and more than a million masks. The team will
share their knowledge and skills with us.”
The Nigerian Medical
Association (NMA) had rejected the idea, describing it as an embarrassment to
the association and other health workers “who are giving their best in the
fight against COVID-19 pandemic”.
Francis Faduyile,
president of NMA, had said the NMA was not carried along before the federal
government arrived at the decision.
But Ehanire said the
Chinese team would be subjected to Nigerian rules, assuring the NMA that there
is no need to be worried.
Boss Mustapha,
secretary to the government of the federation who is chairman of the task
force, buttressed the position of Ehanire.
He said the Chinese
experts would not have access to Nigerian patients but only offer advice to
their counterparts and assist in installing the equipment they would bring.
“The Chinese doctors
are not accredited by the NMA so they cannot practice here. They would just
share their experience on how the epidemic was contained in China,” he said.
“They would also
offer training and advice to our doctors because they are experts in this area.
“The world has
become a global village. If you are not willing to share or you want to live in
isolation, you would not make progress… They (the Chinese doctors) would not
see our patients; they would not manage our patients; they would just share
their experience with us.
“We should be
careful not to allow unnecessary controversy distract the fight against
COVID-19.”
Other sensible countries are looking inwards to provide masks for their citizens. They're sending back chinese masks as most of the mask coming at this time from China are contaminated. Then Nigeria wakes up to bring a team we don't need together with masks we don't need and can't test. Are we really making progress in this country. One million masks from China. SMH.
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