Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Studies conducted in urban slums in Lagos and Oyo States have revealed that residents of the communities have been displaying poor adherence to advisories on prevention of COVID-19 pandemic issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which may rubbish the efforts of government in containing and preventing the spread.
The University of Ibadan Urban Health Research Team, which is funded by the National Institute for Research (NIHR) of the United Kingdom, made the disclosure when it carried out stakeholder engagement in Bariga, Idi-Ikan and Sasha slum communities in Lagos and Oyo States. The team, under the leadership of Prof. Akinyinka Omigbodun, stated this in a press release issued in Ibadan on Wednesday.
Omigbodun, a professor of gynecology and obstetrics, former provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, ex-president of the West African College of Surgeons and chair of the management board of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa, advised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, to deploy COVID-19 task force teams in their respective states to urban slums in their states towards preventing community transmission of coronavirus, adding that the governors should consider creating access points for COVID-19 testing in slum communities.
According to the health expert, the slum communities in question displayed poor adherence to advisories on prevention issued by NCDC due to the peculiar nature of their communities.
Omigbodun stated that non-adherence to preventive measures and lack of protective kits such as sanitizers and facemasks could negatively affect efforts at curtailing the spread of the virus. He said the governors should engage in massive sensitisation in the communities where the studies were conducted and other slums, as well as distributing free face masks and hand sanitizers in the communities.
He advised that the distribution of palliatives must reach urban slum dwellers who have become very vulnerable owing to the lull in economic activities.
The research team also asked that primary health care professionals be equipped with personal protection kits to prevent them from being exposed to infection before patients are transferred to test and isolation centres
“The access and utilisation of health facilities in urban slums is not encouraging. With COVID-19, the governments of the two states need to do more about community sensitisation, supply of palliatives and provision of testing facilities in slum communities.
“We also found that health care professionals are not supplied with sufficient numbers of personnel protective equipment. This is not good enough, considering the crucial role they play in health service delivery at the community level,” he said.