Covid-19: Nigeria to compensate healthcare workers

The Nigerian government says it is working on compensating healthcare workers who are at the front line of the fight against the Coronavirus.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire at the daily joint press briefing by the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, in Abuja, Nigeria, said the move is to recognize sacrifices and to further motivate the brave healthcare workers.

“It goes beyond the well known group life insurance of public servants, the routine workmens’ compensation and healthworkers hazard allowance. Details of the new package will be made available later, but we must laud the Life insurance offer free for 5,000 healthworkers, donated by a private Insurance Company,” Ehanire said.

The Minister, on behalf of the Government of Nigeria, acknowledged the support of organisations and individuals in the fight against Covid-19.

“​We are also grateful for the show of support and solidarity by organisations, associations and individuals, who have generously donated various items to support our response, such as sanitizers, Personal Protective Equipment, ambulances, generators and even free supply of fish and rice to treatment centers in Abuja. I assure them that the items shall be utilized efficiently for the best outcomes,” he added.

Similarly, the National Coordinator Presidential Task Force Committee on Covid-19, Dr Sani Aliyu has pleaded with Nigerians to respect the privacy of people diagnosed with Covid-19 disease.

Dr Aliyu said lack of respect for patients’ privacy and confidentiality, breaches trust and makes fighting the Covid-19 pandemic difficult.

“Repeated breaches of confidentiality whether its by putting out the names of those that are positive in the public sphere or providing detailed description of these persons to enable them to be identified publicly, does not help the pandemic at all. If anything, it drives people under ground and makes it difficult for us to be able to test persons”.

“It creates fear in the society, it creates stigma and overall it destroys what we are trying to do which is trying to get on top of the pandemic.”

“I must remind all of us that this is a virus that does not discriminate. It could be your neighbour, tomorrow, it could be you. It does not discriminate between a rich man and a poor man. If we do not want to be treated unkindly, we should not treat others the same”, Dr Sani Aliyu said.