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Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Medical doctors, under the umbrella of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have opposed reported plans by the Federal Government to invite Chinese doctors to assist the country in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
The NMA said the action was a great disservice to the morale of the long-suffering frontline health workforce and also demeans their sacrifices so far in the response against the pandemic.
It said that lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), grossly inadequate test kits and test centres across the country, and the absolute lack of any form of insurance for the workforce were primordial issues begging for attention at this time and not the option of importing Chinese doctors.
Its president, Dr. Francis Faduyile, in a statement released in Abuja on Sunday, alerted decision-makers that such action was a complete violation of extant laws regulating the practice of medicine in Nigeria as enshrined in the Medical and Dental Council Act and they would resist it.
“Besides, it is an embarrassment to health workers who, so far, have given their best in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic under deplorable working conditions, and a fragile health system to be subjected to the humiliation of not being carried along in arriving at such a decision,” he said.
NMA also alerted the government that the spike in cases and the death toll from COVID -19 in Italy coincided with the arrival of the Chinese doctors in the guise of offering assistance, insisting that such a mistake should not be made in Nigeria.
The umbrella body of medical doctors in Nigeria rather asked that government declare a state of emergency in the health sector because the COVID-19 situation has exposed the lapses in Nigeria’s health care system.
NMA suggested that the period of the state of emergency should be used to fix the health system in Nigeria, as a matter of urgency, in a bid to stem the rot.
Similarly, in a statement in Lagosyesterday, TUC president, Mr. Quadri Olaleye, and secretary general, Mr. Musa Lawal-Ozigi, said the move to invite the Chinese doctors was unnecessary, as those in Nigeria were equal to the challenge.
“As an organisation, we sincerely appreciate the Chinese authorities for releasing their doctors and some of their best hands in spite the catastrophic effect the virus had on their country recently.
“However, it is important to state that the minimal number of people infected and deaths recorded is a proof that Nigeria is not doing badly in the efforts to handle the situation.”
