By Ikenna Uwadileke
Abuja – Lawyers Arise for the People Initiative (LAPI), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), on Saturday urged all tiers of government to put in place standard, clean, safe and secure quarantine centres for suspected Coronavirus patients in the country.
A statement issued by the Founder of the NGO, Mr Ebenezer Egwuatu, emphasised the need for suspected patients of Coronavirus to enjoy their rights to quality services.
Egwuatu decried the state of quarantine or isolation centres for persons suspected to be infected with the Coronavirus in some states in the country.
He said that isolating patients in unclean environment contravened Article 5 of the Patients’ Bill of Rights.
According to him, Article 5 of the patients’ bill of rights provides that a patient has right to clean, safe and secure healthcare environment.
“Nigeria as a nation had adequate time to prepare for Coronavirus.
“As at Dec. 2019, Coronavirus was in the news.
“Any proactive government, whether federal, state or local government, ought to have put up a standard, clean, safe, secured and well fumigated healthcare environment to isolate or quarantine persons suspected to be infected with the virus.
“LAPI, therefore, calls on the respective governors of all states of the federation to as a matter of urgency put in place standard, clean, safe and secure quarantine centres for suspected Coronavirus patients.
“These persons are human beings and coronavirus is not a death sentence as there are records of people who have recovered from the virus.
“So, there is no tenable reason a sick person should be quarantined in a facility which is capable of infecting a healthy person with sickness.
“In the absence of a vaccine or known cure for Coronavirus, the least our governments can do is to provide a clean, safe and secure healthcare environment for suspected Coronavirus patients in line with the spirit and letters of the patients’ bill of rights,’’ Egwuatu said.
(NAN)
