The Federal government has threatened to cancel the licenses of pharmacists and medicine patent stores embarking on the treatment of persons with covid-19.
Osagie Ehanire, health minister handed the warning during the Presidential Task Force (PTF) daily briefing in Abuja, warned: “Patent and preventive medicines vendors, pharmacists and chemists are henceforth prohibited from attempting to treat persons diagnosed with or suspected to be COVID 19 patients, otherwise their licenses may be cancelled.”
He also enjoined private hospitals seeking to treat such patients to apply through their state ministries of health and follow the laid down protocols to achieve their aims.
“Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) and Pharmacists be forthwith prohibited from attempting to treat persons diagnosed as, or suspected to be COVID-19 patients, or else have their operating licenses cancelled. Private hospitals desiring to manage COVID-19 patients apply to their State Ministries of Health for permit, meet standard IPC standards and be accredited by a FMoH certified State team after compliance with Protocols, before being granted”, he said.
Speaking on the mass burial in Kano he said, “with regard to Kano and the around there regarding mass burial, the federal ministry of health and the Kano state government through the Chief Epidemiologist in the public health department of Kano state and officers news of NCDC are there to find out what is true about the news about the burial going on there.”
“Those cases in Duale, Dala, kombosto,Darsumi ,Nassarawa and Kano municipal Local government .The state public health department is still looking into it ,to find out why this death is out of normal and further questioning of the story.
“Since there was no record, no test done on the deceased, the answer will come up in a few days’ time, when the epidemiologists bring their results”, he said.
According to the minister, “yesterday the 21st of April, the Ministry of health conveyed a successful emergency national council on health meeting via teleconference.
“The commissioners of health and even the FCT secretary for health were engaged to review the status and align all response to COVID 19 outbreak in the country.
“Some of the resolutions unanimously adopted are: That all persons diagnosed with COVID 19 be henceforth preferably treated in the state diagnostic Centre rather to be referred to another state or to their state of origin except there is a medical indication for it.
This, according to him, would help to avoid the high risk of other persons in the cause of transfer.
Meanwhile, the PTF has attributed the increase in number of Covid -19 patience to expansion of its testing capacity and community spread of the virus.
Chairman of the PTF COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, at the daily briefing of the team, noted that the dynamic nature of the response plan, the strategy for testing has been modified, while door-to-door testing is now taking place in some communities in Lagos and Abuja.
“Testing, detection, isolation, care and case management remain central to our success in this fight.”, he said
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, had on Tuesday confirmed 117 new cases of coronavirus.
According to NCDC the total cases have now risen to 782.
TONY AIELEMEN ,HARRISON EDEH,JAMES KWEN,INNOCENT ODOH, ABUJA
