COVID-19: Cure pathways Nigeria should adopt

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, two things became obvious as pathways to controlling its spread and management of patients: one is the ability to test people for the virus and get results in good time; the other ‎is providing ventilators for people who are already sick and down with the complications of the disease.

These two necessities have continued to pose a problem to Nigeria. The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 told the world on national television that its strategy is to test only people who have manifested symptoms or have a travel history. Volunteered testing is not acceptable at the moment. This is despite the risk of waiting for symptoms to manifest, before testing someone who may have already spread the virus to others, to create stream of asymptomatic carriers.

Clearly, the prohibitive cost of accessing test kits, and the logistics of importing and distributing them to all parts of Nigeria have made large scale testing difficult. The cost challenge is also linked to Nigeria’s heavy population and large land mass.

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But solutions to these challenges are so close they almost make Nigeria look uncreative – especially when viewed against the very recent appointment of President Muhammadu Buhari as the champion of the fight against COVID-19 in West Africa by the ECOWAS heads of state.

The first solution can be found in Senegal. The country recently developed simple test kits that cost about N360. They have also reportedly produced simple 3D ventilators that cost about N21, 600 each. That means that with about N22, 000, Nigeria can import or produce a pair. Combine this with a modification of textile materials for the garment factory in Governor Ben Ayade’s Cross River State, Nigeria can access low cost but probably highly effective test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment. Senegal is already using these test kits on her citizens, and is now acclaimed as the country with the highest recovery rate in Africa, and probably, the world. High powered cooperation with this country is not difficult. If the country cannot chart a quick approach to Senegal, then the Yellemans of Jigawa State, who are known to have migrated from Senegal, and still travel there to see relatives, could help in bridging gaps.

Another country that Nigeria needs to emulate is Ghana, which is now using Zipline medical ‎drones to collect test samples and deliver them to laboratories, which in turn relay results promptly. Two days after collection, results are relayed via text messages to health centres in rural communities. Long detention and isolation have been eliminated through this approach.

Faster testing and less risk due to health workers due to human to human contact is another benefit of this technique. It also solves the challenge of taking long road routes to laboratories with the attendant risks. This simply means that with a few number of laboratories, Nigeria can use drones to test millions of people and relay results within one week. But then, where do we get the drones?

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari ‎relaunched some drones produced by the Nigerian Air Force in Kaduna shortly after he was sworn-in for a second term in office. Those drones were meant for counter insurgency operations against Boko Haram terrorists and had been tested within Kaduna metropolis almost a decade ago. Those drones can be modified to carry out medical operations. They can, and should be deployed in the fight against COVID-19.

The Federal Government and the presidential task force‎ therefore, have no excuse not to win the fight against COVID-19 in quick time. The world is watching to see if Nigeria can harness these begging opportunities, or turn her back against them.