Friday, 29 March, 2024

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The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, NAUTH Dr Ugboaja Joe calls for more compliance to COVID-19 Preventive strategies


Against the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Dr Joe Ugboaja, has called for stricter compliance to the COVID-19 preventive strategies especially the use of face mask and observance of social distancing among members of the public.
Dr Ugboaja, who is the Director of Clinical Services, Research, and Training of the hospital as well as the Chairman, Covid-19 Taskforce of the hospital, made this call while addressing newsmen at the weekly press briefing on the activities of the Taskforce recently.
Chairman MAC, who heads many committees of the management and Board and seen as key to most of the transformational changes taking place in the hospital, said that the call has become pertinent in view of the rising number of cases resulting from the ongoing community spread.
‘Time has come for everybody to take responsibility for curtailing the spread of this virus. This is the only way we can arrest this ugly trend and flatten the curve. It is unfortunate and highly worrisome that even in the face of escalating rates of infection, most people still go about their businesses as if nothing is happening. Every day, you see people moving up and down in groups without a face mask and with minimal regard to physical distancing. The markets and workplaces are filled with people clustered together without face masks. The pubs and beer parlours are all bubbling with activities with people paying little or no attention to covid-19 preventive strategies’.
According to Dr Ugboaja, this ‘ I don care’ attitude of the members of the public is responsible for the increasing number of cases presenting at the Teaching hospital for management. He stressed that if nothing is done to halt or reverse this trend quickly, the hospital will soon be overwhelmed with cases of COVID-19 and will not be able to help further. The CMAC, therefore, called on all stakeholders to quickly join hands with the hospital and the government in the fight to halt the spread of this deadly virus.
‘There is an urgent need for all the stakeholders including religious, community and political leaders to join hands with the Teaching hospital and the government in the fight to curtail the spread of this virus by sensitizing the members of their constituencies and putting structures in place to monitor compliance to the covid-19 preventive strategies and punish offenders. There is a need to strengthen the existing covid-19 Taskforce teams and establish new ones at the communities, villages, churches, markets, and workplaces to enforce compliance to covid-19 protocols. These bodies ought to take the responsibility of ensuring that their members comply with covid-19 protocols especially the use of face mask and maintenance of physical distancing.’
In terms of the activities of the Taskforce, the CMAC said that members of the Taskforce especially the Rapid Response Team and other staff members of the Isolation unit and Accident & Emergency, have been very outstanding and deserve a lot of commendation. The Teaching hospital- Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, which is central in identifying, isolating, and managing cases of covid-19 needs to be supported with the personal protective kits, including the face masks, the PPE gowns, booths, face shields, and other materials’. The Taskforce chairman paid glowing tribute to the CMD and Hospital Board for providing the necessary logistics for the Taskforce.
‘I want to thank in a special way the CMD of the hospital, Prof AO Igwegbe and the Board of management ably led Chief Ezekiel Afukonyo for providing leadership and the needed logistic support at this period in time. I want to also thank members of the Taskforce on covid-19, especially the Rapid Response Team and the staff of the Isolation and Accident and Emergency units for their outstanding performance so far. They deserve a lot of accolades. I also thank members of the press who have been partnering with us in this fight against the coronavirus infection.’
The weekly press briefing of the NAUTH Taskforce on Covid-19 is conceived to bring every stakeholder up to speed on the efforts of the Taskforce, the challenges, and the areas for cooperation and collaboration.

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5 comments on “The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, NAUTH Dr Ugboaja Joe calls for more compliance to COVID-19 Preventive strategies

Dorothy Ezeagwuna

God bless our working CMAC

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Tony Okonkwo

Good and timely call for mass participation in preventive measures.
Well done.

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NWAJAGU, Johnson Nworah

Good to hear of deliberate and sustained campaign and actions targeted at creating responsible health behaviour among our people in the midst of this ravaging Covid pandemic. Sad to note and concur that people’s response is far from satisfactory. I saw even worse scenario on Saturday when I entered Kano City. I did not see ONE person doing the most elementary of wearing face mask. I encourage the NAUTH team not to despair.

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Ugboaja Joe

My Oga
Thanx so much for the comments. Winning the war against this virus requires all hands to be on deck. Daalu rinne!

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Egwuh Paulinus

Thanks to the CMAC of NAUTH for your efforts. The NAUTH management led by Prof AO Igwegbe and Dr J Ugboaja has been doing well in this fight against the pandemic. It is disheartening to see members of the public and even some healthcare workers going about without wearing face masks and not adhering to the social distancing protocols even as the pandemic is spreading. This calls for caution. Your call is timely. You have done well sir.

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