As the third wave of the COVID-19 infections is spreading in Nigeria, the Lagos State government has said that as part of the proactive measures to contain the spread, moreo isolation centres have been reopened to complement the existing ones even as the state has attained a 50 per cent occupancy.
Abayomi who spoke at the 2021 Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Lagos zone, said that aside from Gbagada Isolation Centre and the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Yaba, the state has reopened the INDO Isolation Centre.
“We still have enough space in our isolation centres. Right now, we have reached about 50 per cent occupancy. With our public-private partnership arrangement, we just re-activated one of the isolation centres to create more space.
He hinted that the state had learned a lot during the first and the second waves of the COVID-19 virus infections so they are not panicking even as they strive to contain the third wave.
He revealed that the majority of patients with critical conditions are those who have not received COVID-19 vaccine before, “at our Isolation facilities, the majority of the people with serious symptoms and complications of the COVID-19 virus are those people who have not had a single vaccination while those who have taken vaccine did not present with critical illness.
“We have made available the first and second consignment of COVID-19 vaccine which had already been exhausted. In a few weeks time, we are going to receive a new consignment of both Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.
“I will like to appeal to Lagosians to the advantage and get vaccinated. It is better to be protected because we don’t know what the virus have in stock for us.
“The international science shows that even if you are fully vaccinated, you can still contact COVID-19 virus, however, the evidence is very strong now that even if you contact the virus, you won’t be critically ill like someone who have not been vaccinated. So what we are trying to do is to prevent people from dying.
“There is a global shortage of vaccines and the state is doing everything possible to get access to the vaccine so that we can achieve the target of at least 60 per cent vaccination which will give us strong immunity.
On his part, Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos chapter, Dr. Adetunji Adenekan, said that in recent times, there has been an increasing trend in complaints of cases of alleged medical malpractice and negligence by patients and their relations especially in Lagos State.
Adenekan appealed to the public that rather than engaging in social media trials, they should make use of established professional channels and institutions in addressing their concerns in respect of medical negligence, malpractice and other related matters.
Adenekan hinted that to improve Nigeria healthcare delivery, the country must embrace the World Health Organisation six building blocks which are service delivery, health workforce, information, medical products, vaccines and technologies, and governance.
Corroborating his views, Country Director for PharmAccess, Njide Ndili said that improving Nigeria health indices requires systemic approaches that are multidimensional, “because we cannot change the system by focusing on one aspect.
