Pharmacists in Diaspora under the umbrella of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) have donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for COVID-19 response.
NAPPSA President, Dr Anthony Ikeme, said the essence of their donation is to encourage and support the agency for its very important role in coordinating the overall COVID-19 response in Nigeria
He explained that the leadership of the NCDC is in the best position to allocate the resources where they see mostly needed.
The items presented are: 10,000 nitrile examination gloves, 2000 hand sanitisers, 2000 regular face mask, 1,000 KN95 valve face masks with respirator valve, 1000 face shield (anti fog, and anti-splash and 100 finger pulse oximeter with lanyard.
The NAPPSA President said although in the United States, the heart of NAPPSA members remain at home, in Nigeria, as they have a history of responding whenever they receive a call from Nigeria.
Ikeme also noted that they were one of the Diaspora organisations that responded strongly during the time of Ebola crisis.
“We have also been involved in capacity building and exchange of Knowledge with our professional colleagues and relevant healthcare institutions in Nigeria.
“As we navigate the current global pandemic environment, NAPPSA’s key message to Nigeria is that they should not let the pandemic go to waste, but rather, the lessons from it should inform our decisions going into future.
“Like every disruptive event, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in our system and again reminded us of the huge opportunity for Nigeria to play actively in the global health and pharmaceutical enterprise.
“In the first place, there is no gainsaying the fact that there is an urgent need for investment in the creation of robust protocols for the preparedness, prevention, and containment of pandemics as well as their related economic and social impacts.
“We are aware that the NCDC, under Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu’s leadership, has made great strides in this regard. Also, the need to build strong health infrastructure and invest in human capital for the health sector cannot be over-emphasized,” he said.
Ikeme stated that financing must also be put in place to ensure that we have a robust primary care infrastructure and that all Nigerians have full access to basic primary care.
Responding to the generous donation, Dr Ihekweazu, Director General of NCDC appreciated the support of NAPPSA, saying NCDC is working hard to promptly detect cases and effectively protect the health of Nigerians against this infections disease.
“By pulling all our resources at a time like this, we will yield a lot more success in the fight against COVID-19,” he said.
NAPPSA is an umbrella organisation of Nigerian pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists in the Americas.
Founded in 2006, NAPPSA is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, with over 7,000 pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists working in pharmaceutical industry, government, research universities, hospitals, and the community.
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This is remarkable. Well-done, great people.