By Chimezie Godfrey
The President, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, (NARD), Sokomba Aliyu has said that a single national response is the best approach in the mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Aliyu who disclosed this during an interview with Newsmen on Friday, said that adopting a single response will be more efficient and effective in tackling the spread of the virus in the country.
“The advantages are numerous, one is that when we have a single national response, the whole program is coordinated.
“In that way we will get to avoid issues like what is happening in Kogi and cross River state where the governors have refused to tedt their people and that will be exposing the people and the life of health workers at those states to unnecessary risk.
“So if we have a single coordinated response, these discretional decisions by some governors will be avoided.
“Secondly, when we have all compassing response that is involving new stake holders, we will have the outcome of the program well coordinated and the outcome of the program will definitely become effective and more efficient as against what we have now just coordinated,” he said.
The NARD President commended the government for appreciating the efforts and sacrifices made by frontline health workers in containing the spread of the pandemic.
“Federal government on several occasions have appreciated the health workers and we thank them for appreciating the work we are doing.
“However we are asking them for some of the things we need to do our work more effective, efficiently and diligently should be provided, but in that aspect we are yet to see a commiserate response from the government,” he stressed.
