{"id":25453,"date":"2020-03-23T23:49:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T22:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=25453"},"modified":"2020-03-23T23:49:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T22:49:38","slug":"it-is-wartimea-call-to-action-against-covid-19-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=25453","title":{"rendered":"It is WARTIME\u2026a call to action against COVID-19 in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Prof. Chima A. Onoka<\/strong>
\nThis is a call to action.
\nThe world has changed in weeks and will never be the same.
\nIt is wartime, friend.
\nCOVID-19\u00a0has brought unprecedented times.
\nIt is time to end the blame game and wake up to a fight\u2026a fight of FAITH and STRATEGY. It is time to take responsibility.
\nI invite you to roll your sleeves and get ready for the battlefield.
\nWhat you should STOP DOING NOW!
\nFear and Panic (this is unhelpful)
\nDocility and finger pointing
\nBlaming government
\nBlaming hospital managers
\nBlaming China or other countries
\nBlaming those traveling into your country (citizens or foreigners)
\nBlaming affected relations, friends or colleagues in our neighborhood
\nBlaming God (It\u2019s humans that filled the earth with evil)
\nCalling for a strike (industrial action) for any reason (it will be a regrettable step)
\nArguing that more developed countries have abundance of protective gadgets (you are wrong)
\nSharing fake news whether positive or negative (you will be held accountable for lives that you deceive)
\nHolding back your resources, time and competence where you are healthy TODAY to give
\nWhat you should START DOING NOW!
\nYOU:\u00a0Stop being an ostrich. Take responsibility. Faith is a risk that you cannot risk living without!\u00a0YOU NEED FAITH\u2026YOU ALSO NEED STRATEGY\u00a0to operationalise it.
\nEVERYONE:\u00a0Sign up to participate in the adoption of the right strategies e.g. Social Distancing PLUS Active finding\/reporting of the sick. Social Distancing alone will not solve the problem. It will also only last as long as people have stored food to eat in their homes. Unfortunately, many Nigerians survive on daily income in the streets. That\u2019s some trouble if there\u2019s no strategy.
\nHEALTH WORKER (Doctor, Nurse, Pharmacist, Laboratory Scientist, Students):\u00a0Arise to play your part, ask for clinical guidance, and get ready for work. There is no hideout, home inclusive.
\nRESEARCHER\/ACADEMIC (especially in the health sector): It is time to harvest information daily and provide solutions.
\nMDCN, NMCN, PSN, PCN, WACP, WACS, NPMCN, MLSCN, NMA, NANNM, APHPN, ARD, CMDA, etc. Wake Up. You existed for reasons more than just meetings, unionism, welfare, conferences and examinations. Nigeria has no one actively summarising emerging research evidence daily and providing clinical guidance. It is not NCDC\u2019s primary role. NIMR is challenged. Can you take up the challenge NOW to ACT and DEMAND action?
\nHEALTH FACILITY MANAGEMENT: If you are waiting for NCDC to manage the actual response in your health facility, you are a joker. It\u2019s over 200 million people that are at risk of losing millions, who could be anyone. It is time to reschedule cold cases, elective surgeries, and give long-term prescriptions to managed patients. It is time to free up more wards. It is time to train all your staff irrespective of department and specialty into care givers in an emergency. It is time to have an established team providing local clinical guidance daily. It is time to reallocate resources and go beyond the budget restrictions on responsible MDAs of government.
\nPRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, GOVERNORS, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS:\u00a0It is time to review resources. Be courageous. This is time to reallocate government budgets. Channel them to public health, provision of food, logistic, supplies and hospitals. You need to have those to govern at the end of this war. Do all possible to provide resource support and security for the health workers streaming out to the front-lines. Prepare the police and civil defense for the job of control. Fund the Rapid emergency local production or test kits NOW. Work with any entrepreneur that is promising.
\nRELIGIOUS LEADERS:\u00a0It is time to give your resources for a cause for humanity. Mobilise your members in Churches, Mosques for social distancing and identification of the sick. It is time to show love. If you are a health worker in a church for example, the church is waiting for you. Who else are you waiting for to guide them?
\nENTREPRENEURS, LOCAL COMPANIES, EQUIPMENT OWNERS:\u00a0We NEED you to do all that is possible to mass produce\/supply test kits and for other hospital equipment
\nDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES & DONORS:\u00a0If Nigeria has helped you grow in wealth, it is time to respond in love. Pay for test kits, logistics and for defending the security and health personnel in the frontlines.
\nFAMILIES:\u00a0Keep an eye on your loved ones. Stay healthy. Adjust your meals if possible, in order to manage through this period. Share with those you can. If you are in quarantine, cooperate if you truly love your family.
\nFAITH & PRAYER:\u00a0This is a time for honest and passionate prayers. Friends, this is real. Life is short unless it is connected to eternity. So, CONNECT. It\u2019s time to call on the Lord for mercy and restoration. It is time to support the sick, vulnerable and fearful among us and to pray for the frontline workers in this battle. It is time to LOVE.
\nIt\u2019s time to fight, to volunteer, to lead, to give and to commit personally to take responsibility\u2026for the NIGHT is coming when no one can work.
\n\u25aa Onoka, a public health physician & health systems economist, is the Executive Secretary, Christian and Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA) Nigeria<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Prof. Chima A. Onoka This is a call to action. The world has changed in weeks and will never be the same. It is wartime, friend. COVID-19\u00a0has brought unprecedented times. It is time to end the blame game and wake up to a fight\u2026a fight of FAITH and STRATEGY. It is time to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772,5777,5773,15],"tags":[1325,1180,1326],"class_list":["post-25453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","category-features","category-health","category-jobs","tag-action","tag-covid-19","tag-wartime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}