By Sanni Onogu, Abuja

Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki on Friday urged Nigerians to unite against the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

Saraki in a statement in Abuja noted that the occurrence of Nigeria’s first case of Covid-18 must be seen for what it is – “an opportunity to unite behind a common objective to overcome a threat to the health and wellbeing of our beloved country and her peoples.”

He added: “At this time, I appeal to the Federal Government to install and operate top of the line screening equipment at our airports, seaports and land borders while implementing a policy of stronger screening of people arriving our shores from countries with a high prevalence of the virus.

“I appeal to the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to step up its awareness campaign by transmitting information about the disease and the steps that can be taken to prevent it in as many Nigerian languages as possible.

Read Also: ‘Coronavirus outbreak is getting bigger’ – WHO

“It is also necessary to appeal to the Federal Ministry of Health to update Nigerians daily on events to help curb the spread of fake news and misinformation about the virus. I appeal to media houses to support this awareness campaign as much as possible.

“Finally, I appeal to Nigerians not to panic and to avoid spreading sensationalist or false information about the virus.

“I have always believed that Nigeria and Nigerians can overcome any challenges before us when we unite behind a common purpose. I believe we can do so now.”

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

 

The Federal Government has begun the process of actively tracing those that might have had possible contacts with the index case of coronavirus- an Italian- on a brief business visit to Lagos on February 25.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, stated this to reporters on Friday in Abuja.

He expressed concern that coronavirus spreads easily because patients do not show symptoms immediately and might not know they have the virus for days.

According to him: “We have been in touch with the aircraft authorities to find out who his seatmates were and how many people have possibly been infected.

“We will do everything possible and use every resource to limit and contain this virus so it doesn’t spread.”

He added: “The relief is that the patient is not showing any serious symptom and the other relief is that as far as statistics is concerned more than 97 percent of patients have recovered”.

The minister however said the identity of the patient from Italy will not be identified or his company without prior permission.

Concerning the level of preparedness, Ehanire said the country has all the required capacity to avoid further spread.

He added that the federal government has increased reagents for testing.

He pointed out the four laboratories across the country have full capacity to respond to the virus.

He also assured that there will be no shortage of commodities such as face masks.

He also recalled that Nigeria has already obtained treatment protocol from China, which was used to treat over 5,000 people for the virus.

“We will follow the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines because recklessly stopping of international travel can backfire.

“So, as long as we can control it, we don’t need to overreact, we are working with WHO. I only advise people to keep a social distance from people coughing and sneezing and observe respiratory hygiene,” he said.

Read Also: Nigeria records first case of coronavirus

Also, The World Health Organization (WHO) in Nigeria commended the Federal Government’s effort on its timely response to the first case of coronavirus reported in the country.

The Officer-in-Charge of the WHO, Dr. Clement Peter said: “We have been working with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to provide support on how to control the spread.

“I am proud to say that NCDC is one the best control centres we have in Africa and we will continue to partner with the centre to address the virus.

“Now that we have a reported case in Nigeria, what is important is the control and we will also facilitate other partners to support Nigeria”.

Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, stated that it has deployed its rapid response teams in Lagos state and other parts of the country to manage the situation adequately.

As it stands, Nigeria becomes the second country to confirm the disease in Africa and the 52nd in the world.

Over 80,000 cases of coronavirus have been recorded globally, out of which more than 33,000 people have recovered.

Ihekweazu said health facilities must remain on high alert and he assured Nigerians of their safety against the coronavirus.

“The NDCD has escalated the multi-sectoral coronavirus preparedness group to an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), at level II to lead response activities.

“The NCDC will continue to keep Nigerians informed. It is important for them to be focused on facts and not fear. Nigerians should protect themselves by staying calm, drink lots of water,” he said.

With the inauguration of the training arm of the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, which seeks to create a generation of well skilled medical professionals in cancer treatment and management in the country, a new horizon beckons for Nigeria’s cancer patients, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF

 

It is an open secret that Nigeria, with an estimated population of about 200 million people, has a grim statistics regarding cancer incidence.

Besides recording an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer yearly, the country loses no fewer than 72,000 lives annually to cancer, with breast and cervical cancer responsible for 50.3 per cent of all reported cases.

A combination of poor access to quality treatment facilities and outrageous cost of treatment abroad has sent many patients to their untimely graves.

This ugly narrative, which has made tongues wagging over the years about the parlous state of healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, is gradually giving way to brighter hopes for cancer patients in the country.

Thanks to a partnership by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, which led to the commissioning of the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre last year by President Muhammadu Buhari, cancer patients in the country no longer have reasons to travel abroad before accessing world-class treatment.

The world-class centre, located within the premises of LUTH in Idi-Araba, had since commenced full operations in May last year.

To further demonstrate its commitment to end the scourge of cancer and create sustainable structures for the benefit of Nigerians, the federal government has taken further bold steps towards deepening access to cancer treatment in the country.

In order to further exploit the benefits of having a world-class cancer treatment, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has commissioned NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre (NLCC) Training and Administrative Building in Lagos.

The project, a world-class training and administrative facility located  in LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos, is expected to provide an enabling environment where medical professionals can receive training, thus creating a generation of well skilled medical professionals within the country, especially in cancer treatment and management.

According to Ahmed, the purpose of NLCC is to create and enhance access to quality and affordable healthcare services to Nigerians, especially cancer patients who have to travel abroad for medical treatment.

She said it is unacceptable that about 40 per cent of funds spent by Nigerians on medical tourism comes from the pockets of patients seeking treatment for cancer. The minister reiterated that, with latest technologies and capacity to treat 80 patients per day, the centre will not only provide return on investment but will also make life easier for those who cannot afford cancer treatment.

“With an average cost of N900, 000 for different categories of cancer treatment, it is quite cheap compared to $10,000 in Ghana and about $15 in Europe and the United States. The cancer centre is built to enable patients obtain precise treatment they received abroad and would also minimise the need for medical tourism.

With the edifying technology that is obtainable anywhere in world, about 80 patients will be treating per day. The cost is affordable and everything about cancer is here; diagnosis of any type of cancer and treatment, training of doctors with high quality technology is also available.

In the case of the cancer centre, we can measure this value in currency, but we prefer to measure the value in terms of its social impact; the number of lives of Nigerians that will be saved and positively affected as well as the impact of capacity building for our people.

“What we want to do, going forward, is to have patients coming from all parts of the country, from our neighbouring countries and all over African continent.

And also to stem the tide of medical tourism, so that Nigerian citizens do not have to go to the neighbouring countries, Europe and US to obtain cancer treatment. What we have here is very high technology equipment that are obtainable anywhere in the world.

The training centre will upgrade the knowledge and skills of oncologists, radiologists, physicists and other personnel to provide excellent care to patients in Nigeria. When the investor, NSIA, recovers its investment, this centre will be handed over to LUTH, the same business model is being deployed right now.

The next centre will be commissioned at the Radiology Diagnosis Centre in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and also, a similar centre in the University Teaching Hospital, Umuahia; there would be others as well,” she said.

In his remarks, the MD/CEO of the NSIA, Uche Orji, said that his organisation keyed into healthcare investment because of its value chain, stressing that doing so will facilitate the delivery of high quality, affordable and accessible healthcare services to Nigerians.

“Since the commissioning of this centre by President Muhammadu Buhari, we had promised improvement in our quality treatment of cancer in Nigeria.

During our operation, we identified some deficit, in terms of skill and facilities that can help bring more people that will address the scourge of cancer, which is the reason we come up with this training and administrative centre.

“Today, we are proud of this investment. We spent about 12million Dollars on this project and we also have up to 10 more projects in our pipeline.

The facility has three external radiotherapy machines, one brachytherapy machine and a modern chemotherapy suite to treat patients with a diagnosis of cancer. So, Nigerian doesn’t need to spend money going abroad for treatment again,” Orji said.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, represented by Minister of State (Health), Dr. Adeleke Mamora, stated that the Federal Government has continuously placed the issue of universal health coverage high on its agenda by interventions that provide health care services for citizens.

“So our people, patients suffering from cancer, will have no business going abroad again, because what they want to go for is already available here.

Any type of cancer can be managed from what is here, particularly the common ones that we know, breast, cervical or prostrate; those are the common ones that afflict our people here, and again at a very relatively cheaper rate. Because, you will not need to travel, you will not need to pay air fare and other things, usually you have to go with one or two persons to accompany you and these are extra cost.

Read Also: Women get breast cancer screening

 

“Meanwhile, our major challenges in Nigeria are not lack of strategic and policies or evidence of interventions for implementation but rather on scaling up proven interventions, weak health systems, lack of infrastructure and inadequate skilled health personnel are some of the factors militating against the expected positive outcomes of investments made by many low resource settings such as Nigeria.

As we all know, cancer is a debilitating disease which affects not the sufferer alone but takes a toll on families, communities and the nation at large. It is, therefore, a great relief for the Federal Ministry of Health to see the NSIA partnering with LUTH,” Mamora said.

Also speaking, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State lauded the initiative that gave birth to the treatment and training facility, saying it will replicate the uniqueness and quality service LUTH is known for.

Represented by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, Sanwo-Olu said the state is delighted that the high technology development happened in LUTH, saying it’s a golden opportunity for the state and nation at large.

The LUTH Chief Medical Director, Prof Chris Bode, said that the centre is world-class and the facility can cater for 80 patients daily and provide training for over 80 healthcare professionals, among many others. According to him, the centre complements the NLCC’s primary strategy of offering in-country cancer treatment as it aims to ensure knowledge gaps in clinical techniques are bridged, continuous skill development of NLCC staff, adequate environment for research, training opportunities for resident and trainee clinicians across the country.

The centre, he said, houses state-of-the-art facilities that deliver world-class cancer care for Nigerians in a comfortable and safe environment as well as boasting highly skilled and experience oncologists.

The project is put together by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in partnership with LUTH, which undertook the conceptualisation, development and establishment of a modern cancer treatment centre.

Prof Bode said the fight against the killer ailment deserves all seriousness. Therefore, the multi-billion NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, acclaimed as one of the largest private-sector investments in public healthcare, provides a state-of-the-art citadel for overall management and treatment of various cancer cases.

The initiative became imperative to grant access and affordable treatment to categories of Nigerians who ordinarily should enjoy comprehensive healthcare within the shores of Nigeria, he added.

He said the NSIA-LUTH partnership is expected to address key challenges against Nigeria’s efforts in the treatment and management of cancer over the years: lack of access to radiotherapy, shortage of trained staff and maintenance of existing equipment.

The facility, already attending to patients from all parts of the country, is equipped with two Linear Accelerators, with a third already on the ship heading for Lagos. The two LINACS already installed and functional comprise the Halcyon (a Low-Energy, new concept equipment) and the Truebeam, a High-Energy LINAC.

The Halcyon in LUTH is the 44th of its type installed worldwide while the Truebeam is the second and latest version installed in the whole of Africa.

There is also a robust Treatment Planning System installed by Messrs General Electric which captures 3-D images of the cancer and enable specialists determine the site, size andshape of each lesion in order to effectively map out effective treatment while sparing nearby organs form harmful radiations.

A Brachytherapy machine to treat cervical cancer,prostate cancer and other cancers in hidden but approachable sites is yet another new addition to the anti-cancer armamentarium. In addition, the chemotherapy suite can accommodate up to 15 patients at any time.

A 10-year service maintenance contract was built into the purchase agreement to enable the centre give at least a full decade of uninterrupted service.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that 70 per cent of cancer deaths in the world occur in low and middle-income countries.

To curtail this harvest of deaths, WHO recommends one linear accelerator per a million people. Perhaps with the newly inaugurated facility, which includes three external radiotherapy machines, one brachytherapy machine and a modern chemotherapy suite to treat patients with a diagnosis of cancer, the tide may change soon.

By Sanni Onogu, Abuja

 

The Senate on Thursday faulted the measures put in place at the nation’s ports by the Federal Ministry of Health aimed at preventing the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) into the country.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan made this remarks while reacting to a point of personal explanation moved by the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Ajayi Borofice.

Borofice had informed the Senate that the response to the Coronavirus by the South African Government contrasts sharply from what obtains states the nation’s ports.

He said that while passengers are properly screened inside the aircraft before being allowed to set their feet on the South Africa soil, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.

He lamented that health officials in the nation’s international airports only hand out sheet of papers to passengers to indicate how they can be contacted in the event of an emergency.

Lawan said that even though the Federal Ministry of health and its associated institutions are doing their best to prevent the COVID-19 from getting into Nigeria, their “best is not good enough.”

He said those visiting Nigeria from China where the disease is in the increase should be quarantined for between two to four weeks, rather than being asked to self isolate.

He mandated the relevant committees of the Senate to engage the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that the right effort is being done to prevent the COVID-19 from spreading to Nigeria.

Lawan said: “Today every country in the world tries to ensure that if it has coronavirus, it limits it to those that are affected and that it does not go beyond those that are affected.

“And if it doesn’t, every country tries to ensure that it doesn’t cross to its border.

“While the Federal Ministry of Health and the associated agencies may be doing their best, I think at the moment with this kind of explanation this best is not good enough. And we should not take anything for granted.

“We are a prayerful nation but when we pray we should work the prayers. We are not hoping but we must be prepared.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Lagos awaits test result as Chinese is quarantined

“We must take all the necessary measures at our ports – airports, sea ports. People who are coming back to Nigeria especially from areas that have been identified to have this in fact should be screened.

“This is the least we can do. If someone is coming back from China he should be quarantined not self isolation.

“They should be quarantined for two to four weeks. We have to protect the lives of Nigerians.

“The Chairman of our committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, you may recall came up with a motion which was very exhaustive on this but I want to urge the Committees on Primary Healthcare and Health to engage with the Federal Ministry of Health.

“Once again, we want to see every possible effort done at our airports and sea ports that people are screened when they come into our country. We are 200 million, it does not mean that we can afford to part with anybody. Every single life matters.”

Senator Borofice in his lead debate, lamented that there was no screening for international passengers coming into the country.

Borofice said: “When we got to South Africa we were not allowed to leave the aircraft for over 30 minutes.

“Officers of the medical corps of the South African army came into the aircraft and screened everybody before we were allowed out of the aircraft.

“But when I arrived yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, there was no screening.

“All we were given was a sheet of paper to indicate whether were are sick, whether we are going to one country or the other, and how we will be contacted in case of emergency.

“How do you know whether I fell sick after I left the airport? This is very frightening and I think something has to be done to ensure that we do not give way to a situation which we will not be able to control.

“Countries that have adequate medical facilities are working hard to ensure that they contain the spread of this coronavirus and yet, from what I saw yesterday, I was afraid.

“So, I hope that I am making this observation for Nigerians to know and for the Ministry of Health to take adequate action. There should be screening before we get into the airport.”

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

 

In its effort to ensure that lack of access to credit and capital investments is a thing of the past, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create the necessary conduits and environment for medical personnel to access favourable loans.

This according to the NMA will enable those who want to set up private hospitals and outfits to have access to favourable loans, and eradicate the constraints to the improvement of the private health sector in country.

This was disclosed by the President of the NMA, Dr. Francis Faduyile, during the association’s visit to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, yesterday in Abuja.

According to him, “The Lack of access to credit and capital investments has consistently been found to represent one of the main constraints to the improvement of the private health sector in Nigeria.

“Access to finance becomes further complicated with high costs of borrowing, short tenor of loans and high currency risk. The conditions of lending virtually exclude assisting young doctors who do not have established clientele and require three to five years to build a practice.

“Female entrepreneurial doctors eager to provide services especially to mothers and children find it hard to do so. Doctors in hard to reach areas and conflict afflicted zones are unable to do so due to the prevailing conditions in these areas.  Most of the providers who have established their own businesses have done so through personal and family savings”.

He therefore urged the CBN to help in the creation of a Health Bank like the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) which will further increase access to funds to catalyze the needed development and upgrade in health facilities and equipment.

“We have also discussed this issue of the Health Bank with His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, during our courtesy visit to the State House on the 16th July, 2019 and through many other communiqués.

“Also, there is need for the creation of a health specific window in the following instruments – Micro Small Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDEF) and the Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF). Until recently, these instruments were not available to the health sector. However, we urge you to create further incentives to catalyze the much needed investments in the health sector.

“We ask that the CBN work with both the Development Bank Of Nigeria (DBN) and the Bank Of Industry (BOI) to support the demand and supply sides of healthcare financing.

“Innovative use of First-loss and FOREX guarantees could also be explored to allow the lowering of perceived risk of health-sector specific loan portfolios of commercial banks.

“Lastly, we ask the CBN to support the setting up of at least three centers of excellence in different specialties in Nigeria. We are glad to note that the AFRIEXIM Bank will be building a world class cancer center in Abuja with construction set to commence in the next few weeks,” he said.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, however, advised the NMA to partner with financial institutions that will interface with it on their behalf because there is no way the NMA and the apex bank can have direct interventions. He also noted that some health institutions have followed that approach and have had billions of Naira released to them for the upgrade of their facility and equipment.

While embracing the idea for the creation of a Health Bank, the CBN Governor noted that its creation will be in phases, just as Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture started with interfacing with banks before they eventually developed into full fledged banks. He said the creation of a Health Bank will be the end goal.

A five-man committee has been set up by the NMA following its meeting with the CBN. Members of the committee include: Dr. Fatima Zara Mairami, Dr. Usman Galadima, Dr. Olumide Okunola, Dr. Ike Odo, and Dr. Chito Nwana.

A member of the committee, Dr. Fatima Zara Mairami, said: “This is a process that will ultimately lead to the creation of a health bank. Maybe after decades it can evolve into a health bank. Even the BOA and BOI started with favourable loans and later evolved when they became strong enough”.