COVID-19: Research centre tasks NCDC, FG on sufficient information to curb spread

The African Centre for Innovative Research and Development (AFRI – CIRD) has called on the federal government and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure an all-inclusive, robust, and well-disaggregated data in reporting COVID-19 cases.

The Founder/Chief Executive Officer of the centre, Mohammed Bello, made the call in a press statement issued to newsmen in Bauchi on Friday.

The centre noted that, since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease late 2019, it has continued to spread to several countries including Nigeria with the first case recorded in February, when an Italian citizen in Lagos tested positive for the virus.

“While AFRI-CIRD commends the NCDC and its team in ensuring timely situation update on the COVID-19 in Nigeria, we are however, concerned with the amount of information/data being released to the general public,” the research centre said.

The statement while describing as insufficient, the amount of information being released by NCDC on the situation of COVID-19, especially on the index cases, pointed out that they only present information on number of confirmed cases, discharged and that of death and perhaps states of index cases.

“If Nigerian government shares the global belief that the fight against COVID-19 is the responsibility of all, then NCDC needs to ensure that inclusive, robust and well-disaggregated data is shared with the general public,” Bello opined.

AFRI-CIRD while arguing that the information currently being issued is not sufficient enough to shape an all-inclusive, effective and well-tailored public health messaging, maintained that it is also not sufficient enough for critical analysis by intending intervention programmes for effective decision making, considering varying factors which may impact on programme design and implementation in containing COVID-19 in Nigeria.

“In other countries affected by COVID-19, including Italy, Spain, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States of America (USA), we have seen the governments issuing to the general public a well-disaggregated data including gender, age and disability,” the centre declared.

By so doing, the centre said, the citizens would be well informed on the dynamics associated with the pandemic and how best the different segment of the population is affected and disaggregated before they can firm appropriate response measures.

The research centre explained that Global Health 50/50 lnitiative was able to analyse and establish a gender gap in deaths, with 64 per cent and 36 per cent for males and females respectively in China.

“We are however, conscious of the fact that under international human rights law, governments must protect the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive, and impart information of all kinds, regardless of frontiers,” AFRI-CIRD noted.

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Bello stated that the federal government is responsible for providing information that is fundamental for the protection and promotion of the right to health, adding that in this case, the main health problem in the community is COVID-19.

“As such, AFRI-CIRD deems it highly important to call on NCDC and its team to do more and make available to the general public a robust disaggregated data on COVID-19 index cases in Nigeria,” he added.

The research centre called on Nigerians to explore every available information, abide by preventive measures issued by the government and further ensure suspected cases are quickly reported to the nearest health facility.