The Chairman, Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, has described as unscientific, a claim by a former presidential spokesperson, Dr. Doyin Okupe, on the rate of COVID-19 infections among the wealthy elite.
Okupe, a medical practitioner, had in a statement recently said the wealthy elite were contracting the disease more than the poor people because of their lifestyles.
The medical doctor had specifically argued that less cases of COVID-19 infections were being recorded among the masses because they exposed themselves to sunlight and heat daily unlike the wealthy people who hardly expose themselves to sunlight.
Okupe therefore urged members of the upper class to save their lives by avoiding cold enclosed environment because coronavirus thrives in such condition.
However, the Senate panel boss in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Friday, disagreed with Okupe, claiming that his submissions were not based on scientific consideration.
Utazi said, “Doyin Okupe is a medical doctor but he didn’t speak as a medical doctor in his write-up. He was speaking like an ordinary Nigerian.
“I will not want to make my comment on his non scientific statement. Whether we have sun or not, Africa is different from Europe and we know that COVID – 19 is a form of pneumonia which has to do with cold.
“When we have winter in Europe and America, more deaths were recorded as a consequence. People should follow all the preventive protocols stipulated by the NCDC, if we do that it will help.
“I don’t believe in self medication. I believe that people should follow what our doctors are telling us”
He said the Senate had canvassed the creation of standard Primary Health Care Centre in each of the electoral wards across the country to ease access to Covid-19 treatment.
He said it would also facilitate the storage of all the vaccines which the Federal Government planned to purchase in order to curb further spread of the COVID – 19 pandemic.
He further explained that the essence of the PHCs in each electoral ward would make the storage, distribution and administration of the vaccines to Nigerians easier because the storage facilities would be closer to the people.
Utazi said the Senate had proposed N1trn for the purpose of constructing the over 10, 000 PHCs across the country.
He also said part of the money would be used to procure more vaccines, recruit manpower and construct additional facilities to store the vaccines.
He explained that the amount would be source from the 2021 and 2022 federal budgets
Utazi said his committee and that of Health, had been engaging the Ministry of Finance, that of Health and all agencies under it, on how to work towards achieving the project.
He said additional PHCs would be created in some bigger electoral wards which could make the proposed facilities be up to 10, 000.
Utazi said, “Some wards are very big, such could have up to five PHCs depending on the population density but for now, it is better to have one in every electoral ward in the country which is not up to 10, 000.
“We would renovate the existing ones in partnership with the government because the development partners are there, ready to work with us.
“Each of the PHC in every electoral ward, will have electricity, generators, solar, accommodation for doctors and nurses, and everything needed to make them functional in that various places they are cited. They would be the first port of call for every patient in the area.
“If they have issues beyond them the PHCs will serve as reference point to secondary and tertiary health centres.
“If we get the vaccines that we are expecting and we don’t have the requisite manpower and infrastructure to manage them in place, it would be a waste of efforts.
“The vaccines are time bound, if you don’t put them where they should be, the potency would disappear. It has to be handled under a regulated condition and weather.
“Additional staff would be recruited, it will not be left for the states and local governments to handle.
“The Primary Healthcare Development Agency will handle the purchase of the vaccines and the distribution
“That is why we are looking for N500bn in the first instance from the 2021 budget. In fact we are looking for N1trn.
“We will get half this year and get the balance next year. The development partners are ready to key into what we are doing.”
Utazi added that the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control would subject all the vaccines to rigorous laboratory examination before they would be administered on Nigerians.
The Senator said, “The NAFDAC will go to the laboratories to ascertain the efficacy of the drugs and check whether they are good for our system.
“They will also ascertain whether what is written on the pack drugs are the same with the contents.
“NAFDAC will decide the vaccines that we will use in the country. We will reject anyone they reject,” he stated.
