By Oluwafunke Ishola
Lagos – An infectious disease Specialist, Dr Folake Lawal, has urged the Federal and State Governments to invest more in protective materials to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in Nigeria.
Lawal, an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, United States, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
She said governments should invest more in healthcare consumables, adding that many hospitals across the country lacked face masks, protective gloves and isolation rooms that would assist to curtail the spread of diseases.
“The state of healthcare in the country is abysmal, some states are worse than others.
“Even, the state that seems good in healthcare like Lagos State, does not have enough isolation rooms across facilities in the state, asides the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Yaba.
“When you rush someone for an emergency in some hospitals, you will be given prescription for them to buy gloves and face masks, and that is not tenable,” Lawal said.
She added that health workers need adequate personal protective equipment to protect them and also ensure that they do not contact diseases while attending to patients.
According to her, the country requires extra level of care and planning, saying that an infectious disease like Coronavirus (COVID 19) is spread by airborne.
“You might be in the same room with someone who has Ebola, and if you do not come in contact with them or their body fluid, the chances of contacting it is very low.
“But, if you are in the same room with someone who has Coronavirus, the chances are not that low.
“That is what is accounting for the numbers of people that are infected, because you can easily spread it, and it is easily contactable,” she said.
Lawal commended the Lagos State Government for its preparedness in alerting, educating and self-quarantine advice given to residents of the state to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
She stressed that more measures were required in hospitals across the country to boost the nation’s preparedness and resilience against infectious diseases.
(NAN)