Dcn Oni Nelson, President of G50 Initiative for Health (GIF-Health) on behalf of the group wishes to identify with Nigerians at this trying times of the Covid 19 pandemic

As a non-governmental and non-profit organisation of 50 medical laboratory scientists given to interventions in health and education of depraved people in Nigeria, we feel worried that this pandemic is growing in leaps and bounds in Nigeria, in spite of efforts of government and stakeholders.

One obvious challenge this emergency has posed, aside the loss of lives, is the exposure of the weakness of our health system. It has shown that the health sector has been existing on life support, lacking basic equipments, reagents and consumables. More worrisome is the laboratory component of our health sector. At the moment, it is sad to note that only 7 medical laboratories in Nigeria have capacity to test for COVID 19 and other highly infectious diseases. The implication of this is that the Universal Health Coverage maxim of having health care affordable, accessible and available is still a very far cry and a long way away

GIF-Health hereby reiterates here support to the government of Nigeria and the emergency efforts so far made to curb the spread of the virus. Worthy of note is the bold step taken by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari to sign the bill into law for the institutionalisation of the current Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Indeed, the current outbreak would have met us far less prepared had that organisation not been fully positioned. Equally commendable is the intention of the federal government to create more testing centres across the length and breadth of Nigeria in response to the current testing logjam we are having in the few testing centres in Nigeria

We strongly challenge scientist, especially in Nigeria, to live up to their billing and answer their names by taking the bull by the horns on terms of development of potent vaccine, drugs and tests kits for the purpose of overcoming the pandemic. Nigerian scientists are among the best in the world and this is the time to make this global scourge count, not just for mortality and morbidity but for patency of vaccine, drugs and test kits. It is a fine moment for our scientists to count quality papers published in revered peer review journals and scholarly grants won internationally and locally for breakthrough research on COVID 19 and indeed other diseases of pandemic potentials

It is on record that the federal government has recently demonstrated commitment by looking the way of Nigerian scientists with incentives to stimulate them to scientific breakthroughs. First, it was the promise of N36m made by the minister of science and technology to any Nigerian scientist with a clue to vaccine development. Second, it is the N100bn loan by the Central Bank of Nigeria for laboratory-based research. These are indeed times for the Nigerians scientists to prove their mettle by showing capabilities in accessing the funds and returning with scientific solutions to make the world safer and make Nigeria proud

Scientists must cash in on this opportunity to access funds to establish standard testing, production and calibration laboratories hthat will not only oust the current outbreak but outlive it as in-country research infrastructures

The CBN windfall is a commendable policy response by the government of Nigeria in sheer effort to strengthen the weak diagnostic and research infrastructure of Nigerian scientists in the wake of the pandemic. It should thus be seen as the right stimulus to the many research ideas in terms of vaccine development, drug and diagnostic kits development that have been frustrated due to funding

We also call on Nigerians to adhere to all government regulations and guidelines spanning from respiratory hygiene, to community hygiene and gathering restrictions to facilitate the success of our efforts in combating the spread of the virus

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G50 COMMENDS BUHARI ON NCDC, TASKS SCIENTISTS ON VACCINE AND TEST KIT DEVELOPMENT