The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have rejected the plan by the federal government to invite Chinese doctors to assist in tackling the COVID-19 scourge in the country.

This development is coming as the Lagos State Government has discharged a 10-year-old and four other COVID-19 patients from the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba.
Nigeria has, however, recorded 18 new cases, bringing to 232 the total number of confirmed cases in the country.

Five of the 232 have died while 33 have been discharged.

In addition, the Osun State Government has released returnees who were isolated over uncertainty about their COVID-19 status.

The state government has also discharged the index case after the patient fully recovered from the virus.

The NMA expressed dismay over the intention of the federal government to invite Chinese doctors into the country at this time of the global pandemic, saying their presence would dampen the morale of the frontline health workforce.

“The invitation demeans their sacrifices so far in this pandemic. We fail to see how the 18-man team would impact the current efforts in any significant way,” the NMA stated in a statement issued yesterday by its President, Dr. Francis Faduyile.

The association urged the federal government to rescind the decision in the overall interest of the country.

It described the government’s move as a “thing of embarrassment to members of the NMA and other health workers who are giving their best in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic under deplorable working conditions and a fragile health system to be subjected to the ignominy of not being carried along in arriving at such a decision.”
It said the association would review its participation in the fight against COVID-19 considering the grave implications and the risk to the lives of its members should the government allow the Chinese team to come to Nigeria.

It said: “The lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), grossly inadequate test kits and test centres across the country and the absolute lack of any form of insurance for the workforce are primordial issues begging for attention at this time.

“We are, therefore, profoundly dismayed to learn that the federal government is instead inviting the Chinese who from available accounts are not out of the woods themselves. The spike in cases and the death toll from COVID-19 in Italy coincided with the arrival of the Chinese in the guise of offering assistance. Even the United Nations has only just recently commended the efforts of Nigeria so far.”

The NMA expressed concern that the government did not take into consideration the extant laws regulating the practice of medicine in Nigeria as enshrined in the Medical and Dental Council Act, adding that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigerian should have been consulted to grant necessary approvals to foreigners to interact with Nigerian patients.

It stated that while the association appreciates the commendable work done by doctors and health workers at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the various isolation centres nationwide, it expected the government to show appreciation by channeling the available resources and donations to improving testing facilities to detect more cases and ramp up capacity to train more workers.

According to Faduyile, NMA is aware of a large pool of general medical and specialist practitioners who are either unemployed or underemployed that can be engaged instead of bringing foreigners who aside from national security concerns may not be conversant with the country’s culture, terrain and peculiar challenges.

NMA said: “The association believes that this invitation is ill-timed and of no overbearing significance considering that whatever experiences the Chinese have can be shared by digital technology through conferencing bearing in mind that Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu has only just returned from China.

“We are not averse to the donation of equipment and supplies because we can always do with such support as even the developed countries receive support.

“In rejecting the invitation of the Chinese doctors, the NMA would instead urge the federal government to review and approve better welfare incentives to the frontline medical personnel. The provision of adequate personal protective equipment, opening and properly equipping more isolation centres and health facilities across the country is an excellent first step.

“Deploying more resources to facilitate testing as we are beginning to witness community transmission of COVID 19 is equally a better application of scarce resources.”

It advised the government to declare a state of emergency in the health sector and use the opportunity to fix the health institutions as a matter of urgency in a bid to stem the rot.

“The NMA urges the government to expand the Presidential Task Force to include other critical stakeholders, including journalists and the civil society to ensure more robust engagement, especially as the decisions of the task force has implications for the health, wealth and security of our country.”

Toeing the same line, the TUC urged the federal government to drop the idea of inviting the Chinese doctors.

The union said the move would not be necessary since Nigerian doctors were capable of combating the pandemic.

In a statement issued yesterday by its President, Mr. Quadri Olaleye, and the Secretary-General, Mr. Musa-Lawal Ozigi, the union said the minimal number of infection and deaths was a proof that the country was not doing badly in the handling of the situation.

“Truly, the Chinese authorities have done well by not recording more cases in their country. It is novel and also shows how proactive and committed they are to the crises.

That notwithstanding, we insist that we do not need them now; rather we shall continue to adhere to the precautions reeled out by the health professionals to make the job easy,” it said.

The TUC also noted the debate about the connection between 5G network and the virus.

It said: “Although the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim, in a statement has said no licence had been issued as regards 5G in Nigeria, but at the same time we saw an official letter from a telco company notifying Nigerians that they are the first in West Africa to conduct a trial on 5G technology.

“That makes it a bit confusing. We would want the federal government to set up a committee of professionals to research on the development as it will help to address the fears of many Nigerians. We must collectively work to ensure the welfare, health, and security of Nigerians are not taken for granted. We must be circumspect now.”