DRASA Health Trust, a non-profit public health organisation established to sustain the legacy of the late Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, who in 2014 swiftly identified and contained the index case of Ebola, has joined forces with the Lagos State government, Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) and other partners to tackle the spread of the virus.
Since its inception, DRASA has established various health programmes, including its flagship Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) programme which trains and equips health workers. IPC – a discipline that aims to prevent and control the spread of infections in healthcare facilities and communities – helps prepare health workers for the kind of public health threat Nigeria is currently facing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Niniola Williams, managing director, DRASA said the lack of trained personnel is a problem which requires more attention than it is being given, This, she says, fuels the drive of the organisation to focus on training and building capacity for health workers, adding that through the IPC program, DRASA has trained over 1,200 health workers to ensure quick identification, isolation, and treatment of infectious patients while protecting themselves and the community at large.
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“The reason we focus on training and capacity building for health workers is because there is a big gap. There are many entities already investing in the infrastructure, equipment, and supplies required to have a strong health system and contain COVID-19 but few are focused on investing in the human resource required to make the response a success. That’s where DRASA comes in.
“ IPC should be an important part of Nigeria’s health sector, yet many health facilities across Nigeria lack technical expertise and basic capacity in IPC and as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase, it is clear that Nigeria does not have enough trained health personnel to manage a public health crisis of this magnitude” Williams said.
Williams also mentioned the establishment of a training centre for disease and infection control “we are setting up Nigeria’s first-ever Simulation Training Center for Infection Prevention and Control which will allow DRASA scale up and train up to 10,000 health workers annually to strengthen the health sector and prepare hospitals and borders from whatever public health threat may come next. It will also keep health workers safe by reducing the chance of them getting exposed to dangerous diseases which is important considering Nigeria already has a shortage of health workers.”
DRASA however called for funding, sponsorships, and partnerships from both private and public sector individuals and organisations to aid it in building the capacity of the country’s health workforce to tackle COVID-19.
