• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Akwa Ibom appoints new epidemiologist amid crisis over COVID19 management

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The Akwa Ibom government has announced the appointment of Ntiense Raphael Umoette as the new Epidemiologist .

A medical doctor , Umoette until her appointment was the deputy state epidemiologist

She takes over from Aniekeme Uwah, a medical doctor, who has been redeployed by the state ministry of health.

No reason was given for Uwah’s redeployed but a statement by Dominic Ukpong, the commissioner of health said Umoette’s appointment is part of “an internal reorganization to match skills and competence to role.”

According to the statement, the new epidemiologist whose appointment takes immediate effect brings to bear a “wealth of experience and expertise acquired in the course of her career and from the several training programs she has attended.”

A check by our correspondent showed that crisis has been brewing within the Incident
management Committee of COVID-19 over who should lead the team which has the the to the State Government, Emmanuel Ekuwem as head with the health commissioner as a member.

The crisis was said to have deepened when the state ministry of health rejected the confirmed cases announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control which was seen as part of the internal wrangling in the COVID-19 management.

The check further revealed that the state branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and the state government have been at loggers head since the outbreak of the pandemic over how the campaign against COVID-19 should be carried out.