Many children may die in the face of growing neglect of primary health care brought by governments’ increasing concentration on COVID-19 campaigns alone.
This assertion was made by Community People’s Initiative Against Aids (COPEAIDS FOUNDATION).
In a statement it issued, the group said the strategy adopted for COVID-19 fight had disrupted routine services and threatens to weaken the health system of many vulnerable Nigerians.
It therefore warned all tiers of government not to brush aside the medical needs of over 20 million children in Nigeria and a large number of pregnant women under the guise of channelling all health resources to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It warned on the danger of allowing campaign against COVID-19 to take attention from primary health care.
The group said its assertion was based on an analysis by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, newly published and in their reaction to the report, UNICEF warned that the disruptions could result in potentially devastating increases in maternal and child deaths.
She lamented that COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine services and threatens to weaken the health system.
UNICEF had said that globally, 6,000 additional children under five could die every day.
According to the group, most hospitals were refusing to attend to people who had symptoms similar to COVID-19 but may not necessarily be COVID-19 positive.
“High temperature, weakness of the body, loss of appetite are common symptoms of malaria. It is unfortunate that many private hospitals are sending many people back home on the basis of their symptoms which may not necessarily be COVID-19. We need to strike a balance. The health system should not be shut to Nigerians simply because of COVID-19 pandemic. We urge the State and Federal Governments to increase testing capacity and ensure Nigerians are not denied necessary attention to their basic health needs because of the overwhelming focus on COVID-19.”
The group said that as COVID-19 continued to ravage the world, Nigerian authorities should pay attention to the warning from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) which said additional 950 Nigerian children could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months.
“If we allow COVID-19 battle to take away our attention from other primary health needs, more children will die and the lives of many Nigerians will be put at risk,” Adeoye said.
