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Experts say Nigeria’s 450 ventilators, 300 anaesthetists inadequate with growing cases of COVID-19

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CORONAVIRUS: Over 40 health workers in isolation —LUTH, UITH

There is a growing apprehension within medical circles over the number of critical equipment and professionals that may be needed in handling the growing cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

One of the equipment is the much talked about ventilators, which a critical patient of the COVID-19 pandemic may need to survive, while anaesthetists, on the other hand are trained in the management of intensive care patients. Unfortunately, these two, according to reports, are in dire short supply.

The country, as at Thursday had only 450 ventilators while anaesthetists were just 300 in the country. This is despite the fast rising cases of the COVID-19 disease in the country, which on Thursday night, rose to 981, according to the latest official data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)

It is instructive to note that the number of confirmed cases witnessed a spike between April 9, when it was below 300 to almost 1,000 just within two weeks.

The fear however is, if this trend continues, especially with the community transmission Phase the nation is currently battling with, the possibility of having multiple patients needing ventilators and requiring the services of anaesthetists may overwhelm whatever the nation has on ground.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said five percentages of persons positive for COVID-19 will require serious and specialised care at intensive care units.

Dr. Sani Aliyu, the National Coordinator, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, while speaking at at a virtual media press briefing held by the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organisation on Thursday, revealed that before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the country had only 350 ventilators and that so far, about 100 had been added.

Aliyu however lamented that the major concern was that the country did not have enough trained health personnel for intensive care.

Read also: NCDC defends COVID-19 testing approach amid criticism

He said: “Ventilators alone do not run intensive care units. Our major limitation is training of healthcare workers particularly because of the unavailability of anaesthetists. It is impossible to train healthcare workers in this specialised field within a very short period of time. That is my concern.”

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) also re-echoed this concerns when it raised the alarm that the country has only 300 critical care doctors; which it said was grossly insufficient should the country’s COVID-19 cases surge.

The NMA President, Dr. Francis Faduyile while speaking on the Morning Show of Arive TV, said these set of doctors were trained to care for patients needing intensive care but that they were in short supply in the country.

Faduyile said: “Those trained to operate critical care units are majorly the critical care anaesthesiologists. Unfortunately, we have only 300 of them in the country. Should there be a surge in COVID-19, it will mean we are in a short supply. Generally, we do not have enough doctors in Nigeria.

“Should Nigeria get say 10,000 cases of COVID-19, WHO projection would mean at least 500 persons may require intensive care including the use of ventilators and the expertise of anaesthesists; both the country has in short supply.”

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