Unicef donates $8m worth of PPE to Nigeria as part of its assistance to help fight Covid-19

NIGERIA'S federal government has received $8m worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical consumables from the United Nation’s Children Fund (Unicef) as part of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the main, Nigeria has been spared the worst of the global pandemic with casualty figures very low but the country does not produce any vaccine and has to import most of its PPE. With a population of 200m, this has been a big challenge as very few nations have excess drugs and equipment to spare.

Coming to Nigeria's rescue Unicef provided Nigeria with equipment that included thousands of goggles, masks, gloves, gowns, boots, wastebins, hand sanitizers, chlorine and other commodities. They were received by the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) and have been stored at its warehouse in Abuja.

NCDC director-general Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said: “These are $8m worth of PPE and infection and prevention control (IPC) materials. We have been working very closely with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) since the beginning of the response and with all the state governments in Nigeria and this will be the single largest donor provided IPC materials to the country.

“We will now carry out the distribution to all the primary health centres with the NPHCDA. We want to make sure we continue to keep the numbers low in Nigeria, which is really what our target is."

Dr Ihekweazu noted that the gesture was supported by health sector partners including the Vaccine Alliance Gavi and Unicef in Nigeria. He said that primary health care centres were critical as they often served as the first point of contact for suspected cases of Covid-19, hence the need for them to be among the first to receive the PPEs.

NPHCDA executive director Dr Faisal Shuaib, said that health workers in primary health centres continue to play important role in the response. This is by supporting the detection of cases, educating members of the community about the risks of the virus as well as other health and social services.