COVID-19 And Other Deadly Ailments

Since the outbreak in epidemic cum pandemic proportion of HIV-AIDS, bird flu, SARS, keloids or bumps on the human scalps or skins, Ebola, Lassa Fever, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s syndrome, obesity and Zika, the world has known no respite.
In addition to these are so many cancerous ailments mostly associated with the internal organs and reproductive health system like prostate cancer, cervical cancer, Leukemia, colon as well as renal –kidney failure, hepatitis a, b, c e’tal. These are in no means exhaustive of the plethora of strange ailments plaguing the entire human race. Whether the advanced northern hemisphere or the under-developed southern hemisphere otherwise known as the Third World. To date, medical science and the advanced technology of the west is still grappling with how to combat these diseases, viz the disease origin, mode of transmission, best cure and mode of treatment and finding vaccines for them.
Enter, in this millennium, the Coronavirus scourge popularly known as COVID-19 which is ravaging the entire globe with symptoms of coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat, sneezing and fever. Its basic mode of transmission is through droplets from one person to another, either when you hug, shake hands, touch infected surfaces or when an infected person coughs or sneezes and you are within two meters range. The best mode of prevention is by maintaining and keeping good personal hygiene, like regular washing of hands, avoiding crowded spaces by maintaining social distance, wearing of face masks, avoiding handshakes and embracing or hugging, etc.
This COVID-19 pandemic which was first discovered in Wuhan Province, China in December 2019 where the first casualty was recorded is now a global emergency health crisis that is almost bringing the world to its knees. Governments the world over have shut down their economies and even shut down the engine of government. With terms like economic lockdown or lockout, shut down and stay-at-home orders to its citizenry.
Never in the world’s history had humanity experienced this kind of phenomenon, where governments, economies and systems ground to a halt and came to a complete stand still, never in history, I stand to be corrected.
In Europe and the Americas as well as in Asia the fatality rates are high too unlike the cases in African countries where countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya etc. seem to be having the larger cases.
No entertainment, tourism or leisure – airports and seaports all dosed down. No ships or planes taking off or landing. Stadia and sports complexes closed down.
Be that as it may, poor sanitation or poor hygienic lifestyle and behaviour engenders air-borne and waterborne diseases mostly communicable and non-communicable. Diseases and illnesses stem from spread of germs, bacteria or virus or fungi. And these sicknesses always leave a people or community poorer and economically more under-developed and less productive like the Coronavirus scourge has proved.
The federal government through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) headed by Mr Boss Mustafa and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), headed by Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu have been playing a great role in trying to curtail the transmission and spread of the Covid-19 scourge in Nigeria even though they were a little bit slow at the beginning but they later came to grasp with the issues at hand.
The COVID-19 cases in Nigeria as at now, records show about Fifty five thousand six hundred and thirty two (55,632) cases with about forty third thousand six hundred and ten (43,610) recovered cases or nursed back to health at various centres across the length and breadth of this great nation.
In fact, to have these relatively low statistics speaks volumes about our preparedness and handling of the Corona-virus scourge and is a pass mark to our health workers who are at the front line and our governments at the federal and state levels. Although some people are of the view that for a country as big and as populous as Nigeria perhaps those figures are under reported.
Also, I think the PTF and NCDC should endeavour to create more centres for testing, so that many more Nigerians can know their status and avail themselves the opportunity of testing. This will go a long way in helping the country have a clearer and more accurate picture of how many people are infected.
Meanwhile, as the world is poised to unravel this corona virus pandemic scourge, there’s a need for nations and all stakeholders to be united and to make more concerted efforts in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) to forge a common front and force.
On a cheering note, some British scientists recently have come up with an antidote and vaccine for the Covid-19 plague and it is at the testing stage. It will still have to follow the WHO laid down protocol procedure for verification. When finally approved, it will have to be patented for a pharmaceutical company to market it.
Then governments in conjunction with the WHO and other multilateral organizations of the world, would see to how it can be mass produced and made affordable and available to most citizens of the globe whether in the advanced world or in the Third World.
Furthermore, the world economies and systems are sliding into an impending recession, one of the worst in world history, due to the effect of obvious closedowns and shutdowns of airports, sea ports and land borders (no international trade), no tourism, manufacturing concerns, businesses and offices. As a result, multilateral organizations like the World Bank, IMF, IFC and the AfDB need to help governments and economies come up with measures and policies, through moratoriums and relief packages that would help mitigate the effects of these economic shocks. Already most commodities in the international market are experiencing a down tide and many job cuts are imminent in so many countries.
As crude oil price in the international market, for instance, is at one of its lowest and this would have debilitating effect on Nigeria’s economy and other OPEC countries.
The world is watching; need I say more?
Ayooso, a public policy analyst, wrote from Port Harcourt.