The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plan to train 25 doctors in Anambra on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) aimed at containing COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Jide Onyekwelu, Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Anambra announced this in Awka on Friday.
Onyekwelu said that the two day training, billed for Aug 18 and Aug. 19 was part of the train-the-trainers programme of the association for members in the state.
According to him, the doctors, selected from the five NMA zones in Anambra, will in turn train their colleagues.
“The state will have 625 specially trained doctors after the second round of the exercise,’’ he said.
The state NMA, he noted, had set up a taskforce, chaired by Dr Jane Ezeonu, a Public Health Physician who would facilitate appropriate response towards COVID-19 IPC including training of doctors and other health workers on hazard mitigation.
According to Onyekwelu, the objective of IPC taskforce, as set up by the Anambra NMA, is to raise a team of 25 trained doctors, spread over the five zones, who will subsequently step down the training in their various zones.
He said the team would also provide the healthcare workers with personnel protection equipment (PPE) and to establish COVID-19 screening centres in the five zones of Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Aguata and Ihiala.
“The capacity building will help the doctors and health care workers protect themselves in the battle against COVID-19 and ultimately lead to the containment of the disease.
“Doctors and other health workers are at the front line in the containment of this disease.
“As at Aug. 6, about 1,027 doctors in Nigeria had been exposed to COVID-19.
“While 319 cases had been confirmed, 63 recovered and 14 had died.
“This statistics is disturbing.
“We appreciate the Hon Commissioner for Health in Anambra, Dr Vincent Okpala, for accepting to flag off this initiative at Golden Tulip Agulu and also appreciate our partners; the ICRC for sponsoring the project and NCDC for facilitating it,” he said.
Onyekwelu said arrangement have been concluded with the ICRC to supply PPE to treatment centres in the state, including Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Awka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical Centre and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. (NAN)