Caregivers in Plateau State have threatened to withdraw their services from the fight against the spread of COVID-19 due to the alleged non-provision of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) by the state government.
The health personnel under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Plateau Council, disclosed this at a press conference in Jos.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that although there are 209 cases of COVID-19 across thirteen states, Plateau and some other states are yet to record a single case of the pandemic.
However, the Chairman of the council, Mrs Briskila Dabit said, “Everyone knows about the danger of COVID-19 and it will be unfair on the side of government to expose our members to the virus without personal protection equipment.
“We have decided to down tools in all health centres, including hospitals and Isolation centres if the state government will not provide our members with the desired protection equipment.
“It is no longer news the havoc the ravaging virus is causing to doctors, nurses and midwives across the globe; we need protection if we must serve our fellow citizens as patriots.
“As an association, we are of the shortage of PPE in our hospitals and Isolation Centres; consequently, we have directed our members not to attend to any patient with a suspected case of coronavirus without PPE,” she stated.
Dabit, who declared “No PPE, Don’t Risk Yourself,“ however, frowned at the government’s exclusion of the association’s members in the Task Force it recently set up to fight the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
She called on the state government to release the employment letters of successful candidates of nurses and midwives to help bridge the gab of health personnel in hospitals and isolation centres.
She also called for the implementation of isolation and barrier Nursing techniques appropriately as well as control Ward traffic by limiting the number of visitors to hospitals.
The chairman also urged the state government to “use this opportunity to develop the health sector which needs serious intervention”.
“Lastly, I urge all nurses in the state to take extreme care and sacrifice more during this period by adhering to all precautionary measures recommended by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and WHO to prevent transmission of the virus and stay safe,” Dabit admonished.
