Council approves COVID-19 response action plan

The National Council on Health (NCH) has approved the health sector COVID-19 pandemic response action plan.

The council approved the plan at the council’s emergency meeting held virtually and chaired by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire.

The approval by the council was based on states updates and deliberations at the meeting.

The council also stepped down the presentation of the draft guideline on basic health care provision fund, scheduled earlier for presentation to the council for a later time to ensure further consultations.

It also agreed not to establish the COVID-19 community support centres as parallel centres, but as additional options to relieve the burden of service delivery on existing facilities.

The council also decided that states were to own and lead the where desirable and also resolved that the Federal Ministry of Health would share a template on needs assessment, and daily reporting format on case management to facilitate decision making for the federal government support to states.

The council passed these resolutions after it considered the development of the health sector coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic response action plan and the proposed establishment of community support centres in high burden states of Lagos and Kano as well as the FCT, towards reducing community transmission of COVID-19.

Also, the council deliberated on the progress of work/support by all stakeholders and challenges encountered in the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic across the states of the federation.

At the meeting was the Secretary of the council, who is the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Abdulaziz Abdullahi.

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Some of those that attended the meeting were the Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora and 25 state commissioners for Health from Jigawa, Bauchi, Kebbi, Lagos, Edo and Kaduna states.

Others were Sokoto, Kano, Kogi, Yobe, Niger, Imo, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Enugu, Anambra, Katsina, Ekiti, Kwara, Plateau, Osun, Ogun, Nasarawa, Gombe states and the acting secretary of health and human services secretariat of the FCT and representative of the Akwa Ibom state commissioner for health.

Also at the meeting were heads, chief executive officers and representatives of Departments, Agencies and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal and state ministries of health, representatives of development partners, civil society organisations and health professional associations on COVID-19