Mr Boss Mustapha, the Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, has called on State Governments to scale up responsibility for their public health response.
Mustapha, who doubles as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, made the appeal at the PTF daily briefing on Monday in Abuja.
“It is therefore significant to mention that a major outcome of the 100 days assessment on the response of COVID-19 in Nigeria recognises the need for States to scale up responsibility for their public health response.
“In the medium to long term, we hope to build a network of state public health labs that will bring about sustainability in public health response in Nigeria,” he said.
The SGF said that since the commencement of the National Response, a lot of priority had been given to physical health management of people who were affected.
“I am pleased to inform you that PTF has commenced the process of integrating comprehensive psychological services programme into its activities.
“This will be for the benefit of people who are in isolation, wellbeing of their families and communities,” he announced.
Mustapha said that in this regard, the PTF wished to recognise the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, FCT, for spearheading the drive, which he said shall inevitably assume a national dimension because of the importance of mental health.
Mustapha said that as the nation marked the 100 days after the index case, the team remembered all Nigerians who have passed away from the disease.
“We commiserate with their families and friends who have had to deal with the difficulty of losing their loved ones at this time. We pray that God will continue to console them and heal our land,” said the PTF chairman.
He however appreciated the World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), the West Africa Health Organisation, the United Nations family, the European Union and a host of other partners for the support they have given to the nation so far.
He stated that in the absence of a vaccine, Nigeria and the rest of the world must depend on public health, social measures and supportive management of confirmed cases.
Mustapha therefore called on Nigerians to take individual and collective responsibility by adhering to public health advice, such as:
Frequent hand hygiene through hand washing or use of alcohol-based sanitiser; use of face mask in public places; and observance of physical distancing of at least two metres. (NAN)
