The race to contain the spread of the Coronavirus in Nigeria is being hampered by facilities to scale testing, further worsened by poor road and rail networks and the appalling state of healthcare, said Chike Ihekweazu, CEO of the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
This situation explains why Netherlands and France ferried their citizens away from Nigeria in the midst of the pandemic even though their countries have recorded far more cases of infections.
“The global message is testing but there are several limitations. We don’t have the infrastructure to scale testing,” said Ihekweazu, an admittance by a government official charged with taming the pandemic which adds new urgency to calls to craft policies that will hasten infrastructural development and better fund the country’s healthcare.
The NCDC boss said the agency was doing its best despite the difficult circumstances. Ihekweazu said officials of the agency flew in a helicopter into a vessel on the way to Lagos from Port Harcourt to obtained samples that tested positive. This was responsible for six out of the 14 new cases announced on Thursday.
Ihekweazu also said the agency was trying to build new labs, purchase equipment and develop isolation centers while also carrying out testing. “The process is slow and frustrating but there is no magic bullet.”
Years of neglecting the healthcare system, poor funding for research and disaster preparedness, have come to haunt Nigeria in the face of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
Countries with better health systems are experiencing massive collapse casting an uncomfortable glare on Nigeria where the country’s health budget for 250 years is the equivalent of what the NHS spends yearly on healthcare in Britain.
Worldwide, there are now more than 531,000 infections and global deaths have surged past 24,000. In Italy alone, over 8,200 people have died.
The Federal Government is tracing over 4,000 people who returned to the country from places where there are recorded COVID-19 infections. The task is complicated by the refusal of some government officials and others to observe self-isolation after returning from high-risk countries leading to cases of community transmission.
So far Nigeria has tested less than 200 people and reported 65 cases of infection, a situation which raises concern about whether the numbers aren’t just low because of limited testing.
According to Iheakweazu, Nigeria relies on molecular testing which is tedious yet more accurate. Currently, there are five laboratories in NCDC’s molecular laboratory network with the capacity to test for COVID-19 in Nigeria.
With new cases being reported daily amid more calls for testing, these facilities will experience strain. It is why the NCDC has coopted the facilities of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research.
Iheakweazu however, warned state governments and private organisations against relying on newer rapid diagnostic testing, saying they do not work effectively as laboratory tests.
Rapid testing devices including for home use is gaining currency all over the world. In the UK, a new type of test developed by researchers from the Brunel University, Lancaster University and the University of Surrey in Britain, provide COVID-19 detection in as little as 30 minutes using hand-held hardware that cost around $120 with individual swab sample kits that cost around $5 per person.
The global spread of the Coronavirus has increased the number of suspected cases and the geographical area where a laboratory test is needed. Increased COVID-19 molecular testing has led to shortages of molecular testing reagents globally for COVID-19 and for other molecular diagnostics says the World Health Organisation.
“Beyond supply issues, there are significant limitations of absorption capacity in many regions, especially in low and middle-income countries,” said the WHO,
Therefore, the WHO is advising countries like Nigeria to increase their level of preparedness, alert and the response to identify, manage and care for new cases of COVID-19.
“Each country should assess its risk and rapidly implement the necessary measures at the appropriate scale and prepare for a testing and clinical care surge to reduce both COVID-19 transmission and economic, public health, and social impacts,” said WHO.
There has been a flurry of monetary donations to the NCDC both from private and public institutions but the NCDC boss said monetary donations are not a priority now.
He said the funds should go directly to efforts to ramp up isolation centers, provide support both in terms of medical equipment and support doctors and nurses and others in the fight to contain the pandemic.
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