The Federal Government says it will meet with indigenous manufacturers to discuss and facilitate the local production of Personal Protective Equipment, to enhance the fight against the coronavirus.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in Abuja when he featured in a forum to give an update on government efforts at containing the pandemic.
Mohammed said that the Minister of State for Health, Olorunnibe Mamora, and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Adeniyi Adebayo, would meet with the manufacturers on behalf of the government.
He said that the move had become necessary in view of the shortage of the equipment and the need to encourage and develop local manufacturing of medical equipment.
He said, “PPE is in short supply globally and we want to see how we can start manufacturing them locally.
“All over the world, people are making mask locally because there is a short supply of masks.
“Those ones we got from Jack Ma have been shared with the states.
“We call them starter packs and they contain masks and test kits. We have given them to states according to their needs.
“Naturally, Lagos got more because it is the epicenter of the virus.
“We are trying to source the PPE more locally, but one thing about PPE is that if you don’t get it right, you may lose more lives.”
(NAN)
