The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), in conjunction with the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF), has launched the COVID-19 Incidence and Resource Tracker, Dashboard and Predictive Analytic Platform (Systems Platform) to provide necessary information about the coronavirus which will assist in containing its spread in the country.
The systems platform primarily presents and projects the resource requirements in all the states of Nigeria to enable governments and donors identify the needs and gaps that exist in testing, treatment, isolation, contact tracing, and tracking.
Speaking at the launch of the platform, Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, said the deployment of the response tracker highlights the transparency drive of the task force and the urge to defeat the scourge of the pandemic, adding that with the political will, right investments, strategies and active collaboration between the public and private sector, Nigeria can flatten the curve of the pandemic.
“The systems platform solution will provide a robust and current database of federal and sub-national resource and availability requirements for the COVID-19 response, in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended resource specifications on packages for COVID-19,” Mustapha said.
“The Federal Government, as well as the private sector, are working together to subdue the spread and I believe that when we pool resources together, we will overcome,” he said.
In his address, Asue Ighodalo, chairman, NESG, said that the systems platform was designed to provide necessary information and data about the coronavirus including the national and state-by-state incidences – infections, recoveries and deaths cases in order to track and contain the spread across the country.
“The Dashboard primarily reveals the resource requirements across the 36 states of the country, to enable respective subnational governments, alongside the federal government and donors, identify needs and gaps that exist in three critical priority areas – testing; treatment and isolation; and contact tracing and tracking,” Ighodalo explained.
The NESG chairman said the Nigeria COVID-19 Incidence and Response Tracker Dashboard will display state-by-state resources, a back-end content management system for data entry to feed the front-end of the Dashboard and serve as a collaborative platform for key stakeholders to input and share data on actual and projected resources that can activate a needs assessment for combating the pandemic in Nigeria.
It would also enhance the decision-making process in the provision and deployment of resources through a front-end mapping of resource availability, requirements, and gaps, he said.
Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, director of AIG, said the AIG as a partner provides financing and capacity building to support public sector reform initiatives across Nigeria.
She said the pandemic introduced a new normal which has to be obliged with, adding that there is need to prepare ahead of future crises.
“This landmark initiative is a demonstration of what the public sector in partnership with the private sector is capable of achieving,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.
“COVID-19 is a burning platform calling for change. It is important that we review existing systems and take the opportunity to push forward for change so that we are more resilient and better prepared to handle this crisis and others that may come in future,” she said.
