Testing trouble

Editorial

As Nigeria works to improve its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is disheartening to learn that the north-east and south-east regions of the country have the lowest number of molecular testing laboratories for the disease.

Both geopolitical zones have three each, in comparison to nine for the south-west, six for the south-south and four for the north-central zone.

This has grave implications for the fight against the pandemic. Without extensive testing capacity, it is difficult to obtain precise statistics on the rate at which the disease is spreading, especially given the significant numbers of asymptomatic individuals who have the disease.

Testing is critical to prevention, diagnosis, contact tracing and treatment. Countries that have handled the pandemic with relative efficiency are those which ramped up their testing capacity quickly and were able to take decisive action based on the results which it provided. Where COVID-19 prevalence was low, they were able to enforce policies that hampered the spread of infection; where prevalence was high, they established stringent lockdowns and other isolation protocols aimed at containing it.

States that have few testing laboratories, or none at all, are forced to send samples to other locations with the consequence that there are long delays before the test results return; instead of the normal 48 hours, they may take a week. Drivers conveying test samples have been infected in the process.

The relatively low number of testing laboratories in the north-east and especially the south-east is difficult to explain. They comprise several state administrations which are generally seen as proactive and deeply interested in the development of social infrastructure. Both regions are home to some of Nigeria’s top universities and teaching hospitals which are supposed to be the natural domiciles of molecular testing laboratories.

While the ongoing insurgency in the north-east may have hampered its capacity to set up such laboratories, the fact is that Nigeria as a whole should have taken greater advantage of the critical interregnum between January and March, when COVID-19 was beginning to ravage other continents but had yet to establish a firm foothold in Africa.

In May, 20 states lacked testing laboratories, including some with the highest transmission rates. Thanks to the prodigious efforts of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the World Health Organization (WHO)  and the far-sighted initiatives of individual state governors, the situation has undergone rapid improvement in just a few weeks. Ekiti, for example, opened its own molecular testing laboratory at the beginning of June. With the capacity to carry out 400 tests daily, it is a strong contribution to the fight against the pandemic in the state.

It is essential that the establishment of more testing laboratories is given the priority that it deserves. All states must work closely with the NCDC to ensure they meet the requirements for the setting-up of laboratories in order to get the centre’s validation.

Universities and tertiary healthcare institutions located in all geopolitical zones should liaise with the NCDC and with state governments to boost their capacity for carrying out COVID-19 tests. More companies and public-spirited individuals should assist governments in purchasing test kits and equipment.

Testing is the frontline in the battle against the pandemic. If it is not carried out effectively, the battle against COVID-19 will be much harder to win.