On Monday, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, defended the Federal Government’s decision to bring 18 Chinese doctors into the country. Ehanaire, at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 press conference in Abuja, said Chinese doctors would come into the country despite the opposition of the Nigerian Medical Association.
The minister had on Friday said the Chinese team would come on board a Nigeria Air Force aircraft. While objecting the plan, the NMA said the plan was demeaning to Nigerian health workers who had been in the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 in the country.
Addressing some of the concerns raised by the NMA on the invitation of the Chinese experts, especially with regard to isolation of anyone coming to Nigeria from countries with high burden of COVID-19, the minister said that the Chinese would also be subjected to the national protocol guiding entry into Nigeria.
He said, “On Friday, I announced that an 18-man team of Chinese technical experts is expected in Nigeria with a consignment of globally scarce supplies to augment government effort and build capacity to curtail the outbreak.
“The equipment includes personal protective equipment and consumables, more than a million masks and intensive care unit ventilators. There is global competition for masks and ventilators with countries donating or swapping ventilators. It is gratifying that in the face of all these, we are able to get these supplies; even if we have the money, we would not have been able to order for them.
“The technical experts will comprise research doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and public health managers who will share their knowledge, skill and real life experience of fighting COVID-19 with Nigerian personnel.
“Anybody coming to this country will have to be subjected to the rules and regulations we have set. The experts coming, with all the valuable experience they are bringing and which we want to learn, will still be subjected to the rules we have established in the interest of our people. Even if they have done test in their country, we still have to do confirmatory test here.
Let Zebra News help your business/brand reach a wider audience. Advertise with us today! Contact Our Marketing Team; Tel: 08062622328, 07083662767. Email: zebranewsng@gmail.com
