•Health minister, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate
The federal government has said it is prepared to mobilise all stakeholders to effectively combat the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), if it enters the country.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, said this yesterday in Abuja at a strategic meeting on COVID-19 preparedness and response, reports The Nation.
The meeting was convened by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) following the outbreak of the disease and the public health concerns it has generated.
The minister, who was represented by a director in the ministry’s Public Health Department, Chidinma Agbai, noted that despite China’s silence on the outbreak of the virus and its global spread, Nigeria would adopt a proactive stance, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stressed that collaboration among stakeholders was imperative, especially as China remained unresponsive to international appeals for transparency, apparently trying to avoid raising the alarm about the situation.
Pate cautioned against misinformation and called for collaboration among stakeholders, including health officials and the media, to enhance border controls and revitalize pandemic response infrastructure.
He said: “A couple of months ago, the global world became affected one way or the other. You saw the number of people that were lost. They were counted in millions; people that were lost through COVID-19.
“You also saw the countermeasures that were taken by various countries. Surprisingly, those of us in Africa, and Nigeria in particular, were expected to count our dead in millions. But God, being our helper, it did not consume so much.
“But one life is a serious loss to a nation. So many Nigerians lost their lives, not really because of COVID-19 but because of countermeasures.
“During the last COVID-19 and Ebola, people were told to take salt. Some people were told to take potash. So many countermeasures were introduced, and a lot of people lost their lives.
“Now again, in this harmattan period, we have to be careful because COVID-19 started in the harmattan period too; in the past years, it has reared its head again in China.
“This time round, it’s a mutant type that has come up. China, being what it is, is keeping quiet. They don’t want to raise the alarm as to what they are experiencing. They’ve closed their doors to various appeals for them to speak up.
