Traditional Doctors
Is it not high time for Nigerian Traditional Doctors to be at alert given the pace at which Coronavirus is spreading globally and the state of health facilities in the country?
To many people across the world, Nigerians inclusive, the fear of Coronavirus is the beginning of wisdom as reports have it that at least 80,000 people have been infected by the virus globally.
It is no longer news that the virus has spread to many countries, and visiting China at a period like this has to be well thought given that the virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China before it later spread like wildfire.
Though the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and the Minister of Health in Nigeria, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has assured Nigerians that the country has what it takes to contain the virus, still, it is imperative to double-check the assurances given by the center and the Minister given the condition of health facilities in the country.
At the moment, about 19 states of the federation are battling Lassa fever, which could be described as lesser virus compared to the coronavirus and the threats it posses to countries around the world.
One of the recently infected persons is the Iran’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi who confirmed that he has tested positive for the virus, amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic.
In a related development, the virus has spread to Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of the world as more deaths have been reported in Italy.
At the same time, South Korea disclosed that an 11th person had died of the disease in the country.
South Korea has recorded at least 1,146 cases of coronavirus after 169 more infections were confirmed, most of them in and around the city of Daegu.
Also, France reported one new death and three infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 17 and the death toll to two.
Bahrain’s health ministry said the number of infections rose to 26 after three Bahraini women who arrived from Iran were confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to the health ministry.
In the meantime, the United Arab Emirates, which reported 13 cases, said the country was well prepared and equipped for the worst-case scenarios” as the coronavirus spreads in the Middle East.
An official from the UAE National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority made this known.
The UAE officials said it has enough facilities to quarantine patients, and relevant bodies have been instructed to undertake complete surveillance of all people entering the country.
If peradventure, the virus spread to Nigeria, what are the measures put in place by Government to contain it and aside from the measures, how prompt can the government respond to containing the virus?
Nigerians need no seers to answer to these questions, among many other questions considering the state of health in the country.
A quick flashback to when the Ebola virus EVD hit Nigeria, the first case of EVD was confirmed in Lagos Nigeria but the swift implementation of public health measures was sufficient to forestall a countrywide spread of this dreaded disease.
The 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria was effectively controlled using the incident management approach with massive support provided by the private sector and the international community.
Eight of the confirmed cases of EVD in Nigeria eventually died (case fatality rate of 42.1%), and twelve were nursed back to good health.
On October 20, 2014, Nigeria was declared free of EVD by the World Health Organization.
The Nigerian EVD experience provides valuable insights to guide reforms of African health systems in preparation for future infectious disease outbreaks.
So, if Nigerians cannot wholeheartedly trust the medical facilities in the country, is it a bad idea to put Traditional Doctors in the country on red alert to prepare their mind on how imperative it is to think and come up with measures on how to contain the virus if it eventually spread to Nigeria.