As the country continues to record more cases of COVID-19 , experts urge the government to intensify efforts on research for local remedies .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country had been on the rise since July 2022.
Prof. Babatunde Salako, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research ( NIMR), who spoke to NAN on this development said that continuous research on local remedies and surveillance should be of top priority.
“We have done all that should be done, what we need is more campaign against vaccine hesitancy and get more people vaccinated in the country,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to continue to adhere to all precautionary measures given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curb the spread of the virus.
Also, Prof. James Damen, the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), said many Nigerians no longer observed the basic safety precautions given by the NCDC.
“People are no longer observing the basic COVID-19 precautions in place and that is why we are seeing this increase.
“People should stick to these guidelines and the government also should not relent in educating the public on it,” he said.
Damen noted that some of the molecular laboratories provided by the government in institutions were not functioning well.
“The government has tried to provide molecular laboratories to institutions across the country but some are not functioning well because they are headed by pathologists which is not their area of expertise.
“Laboratories are supposed to be headed by lab scientists and we know Labouratory play key roles in terms of surveillance during pandemic or epidemic.
“We expect the government to do the needful,” he said.
He added that more funds should be committed to fund research that would reduced the country’s dependence on foreign items.
“I think the government should take the issue of vaccine production , testing tools within the country into consideration because we have the expertise here in the country,” Damen said.