. Demand life insurance for NARD members
…as four LUTH doctors go into isolation after exposure to infected patient
. Lament lack of specially designed N95 FFP3 facemasks
.Deplore N5000 hazard allowance, ask for upward review
As the deadly COVID-19 pandemic ravages Nigeria and the rest of the world, the National Association of Resident Doctors stated at the weekend why its members may not be committed to the ongoing fight against the disease in the country.
NARD spoke just as four doctors working with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, went into isolation after unknowingly treating a Coronavirus-infected patient, whose status was only confirmed after he died in the hospital.
NARD told The Point that the lives of doctors and other medical personnel involved in the ongoing fight against the deadly disease were being put in serious danger as the government had continually failed to make adequate provision for necessary medical equipment and personal protective equipment for their use.
The association said that this nonchalant attitude of the government to their plight and well-being had created fears in the minds of resident doctors, who are usually in the forefront of the battle against such deadly pandemics.
In Nigeria, COVID-19 cases, at the weekend, reached over 210 as the global figure also surpassed one million mark. The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said efforts to contain the spread of the deadly disease in Nigeria were being limited by finance, manpower and other indices despite the support from government and individuals.
But the resident doctors said that the current poor state of the country’s health sector was discouraging and had made them to no longer have the “urge” to go to work and treat patients in the various hospitals, especially with the continued spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
NARD National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Stanley Egbogu, told the Point that the government had not done enough to protect the doctors that are involved in treating those infected with the highly infectious and deadly coronavirus disease.
Egbogu said it was important that the doctors, especially those involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients be protected adequately because they stand the risk of getting easily infected and even spreading the disease among their other patients.
He, however, warned that the fear by the resident doctors to get involved in the treatment of those infected with COVID-19 because of the inability of the government to provide adequate protection for them against the professional hazards involved in their job, could result in the death of many patients afflicted with other diseases as well as others involved in one form of accident or the other and requiring immediate medical attention.
The NARD spokesperson, therefore, appealed to the Nigerian government to protect health workers across the country from getting infected with the coronavirus.
The association futher urged the government to ensure the provision and availability of N95 FFP3 facemasks also called respirators, specially designed for protection against COVID-19, and other Personal Protective Equipment in various hospitals for effective prevention of the virus.
It advised health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion as they go about their duties, stressing that while coronavirus infection has a low fatality rate, its victims may succumb to it if not well managed.
He said, “The stand of the National Association of Resident Doctors is that the government has not done enough in term of provision of medical equipment and personal protective equipment for tackling the COVID- 19 pandemic in our environment. Right now, as we speak, most of the Federal Teaching Hospitals and State Teaching Hospitals don’t have these personal protective equipment. And these health workers, including medical doctors are the people that the government will send to meet patients. When the patients are presented to the doctors, how are the doctors going to diagnose and detect what are even the problems with these patients without equipment?
“If doctors are in contact with the patients on a daily basis before they even take samples, how are they going to be protected?
“So, what we are saying is that we don’t have enough equipment. Even before now we have been having the issue of lassa fever infection in this country. Just on Thursday in Edo State, a doctor died and that is the sixth doctor to have died from lassa fever infection. And that is why we are calling on government to provide us with equipment to work with and to protect ourselves.
“The problem now is that as it is now, people (resident doctors) don’t want to go to work. They are afraid to work, they don’t have that urge to go and work. Secondly, looking at COVID-19, if someone is afraid to go to hospital to go and treat patients because of virus definitely there may be people that have lassa fever that will die. There are other fatalities, people die from road accidents. So, if other people are dying because of (doctors’) fear to go to the hospitals and work and treat the patients, you can imagine the problem.
“Another thing is that if a doctor is infected, there is higher chances of him infecting other patients when they come to him for treatment. That is why it is important that the doctors should be protected.”
“But the government has not listened to us and as we speak now, COVID -19 is also here, and as we are fighting it, these doctors that are exposed to this hazard are only being paid the sum of N5000. So, we are calling on the government that they provide equipment and make them available to the local centres, to the hospitals. They should let medical practitioners have these equipment because they are in the front line and if they don’t have the working tools, definitely we are not going to make a head way.
“What we are saying is that the government needs to do more. We are not saying we are the only people working to tackle this virus. All health workers are exposed to this hazard. We have our members working across the country. What we are saying is that, we don’t have sufficient equipment to work and this is putting our lives in danger. Remember, I said earlier that six doctors have already died through lassa fever. No N95 FFP3 face mask, even the medical mask and other gadgets that we need to work with are insufficient.”
PROVIDE LIFE INSURANCE FOR ALL DOCTORS, MEDICAL PERSONNEL- NARD
NARD, therefore, demanded that all doctors in the country, especially those involved in the treatment of those infected with the deadly COVID-19, be insured for life.
The association also deplored the N5000 hazard allowance being paid their members and demanded its immediate upward review.
He said, “We want government to offer life insurance to all our members, especially those that are involved in this COVID -19 fight.
“Secondly, we want our hazard allowance, which is a paltry N5000, from 2019 to date, to be reviewed upward so that even as these doctors face hazards, they will have something to go home with. It is really insulting that you are given N5000 to go and take a risk and it is more terrible when you send a doctor to work without equipment and without protective equipment to protect himself.”
When asked if NARD had got any funding from government with regard to the ongoing fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the association’s spokesman said, “They don’t need to release money to our association. The government can only release money to the people we work with – the Federal Ministry of Health and the Teaching Hospitals. As I am talking to you, I am supposed to carry out a surgery this morning but the information I have now is that there is no mask. No N95 FFP3 face masks to carry out this project and that is one of the protective masks we need to protect ourselves when we carry out surgery.
“Currently, we don’t have it. We are not saying they should give money to us. We are saying use this money to provide us with the equipment we need in the hospitals. We are not saying give us money to go and buy them, give it to the Federal Ministry of Health to buy the equipment and distribute to all the Teaching Hospitals. We are saying we don’t have equipment to work and we need to work.”
ASSURES GOVT OF CONTINUED SUPPORT
The resident doctors, however, assured the government that it would continue to partner with the Federal Ministry of Health to contain the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
They advised Nigerians to observe universal basic precautions such as avoiding direct contact with sick people without adequate protection, as well as unnecessary touching of eyes, nose, and mouth with unclean hands.
NARD also urged the people to observe good cough etiquette and keep a distance of at least five feet from someone who has a chronic cough.
It asked them to ensure that surfaces were clean and disinfected regularly with household spray, while hands should be washed with soap and water or disinfected with alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
The doctors also advised health workers and patients with symptoms such as cough, fever, and shortness of breath to wear facemasks regularly.