Reasons for arrival of Chinese medics show public deception – NMA

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says the varying reasons given by authorities for the recent arrival of a team of Chinese medics suggest a deception of the public.

The president of the association, Francis Faduyile, in a statement Friday said they still oppose the arrival of the Chinese medics, and the association has called on healthcare professionals to be wary of uncertified personal protective equipment from China.

“We are not against the receipt of donor support and equipment. We rather are against pulling the wool over our eyes going by the recent statement issued by the Managing Director of the Chinese donor firm operating in Nigeria that the medical personnel will be treating Chinese workers in their facilities.

“We are taken aback at this statement as this is at variance with the information supplied by the Honourable Minister of Health. We wish also to ask when Medical expatriates started coming to Sovereign States to treat her nationals? What happens to the Nigerians working in those facilities?” Faduyile said.

CCECC, handling rail and road projects in Nigeria, had earlier said it would provide $1.3 million worth of medical supplies to shore up COVID-19 response.

“We are aware that the Chinese team will provide ‘CCECC employees with critical and necessary healthcare assistance’, as stated by the Managing Director of CCECC,” said Faduyile.

“It does not seem likely that the team will NOT have contact with Nigerian patients as the Presidential Task Force would want to have us believe. CCECC has Nigerian workers among her employees.

“We demand a thorough screening of the so-called medical team of experts by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and other relevant regulatory bodies to verify their status, as we call on the Federal Government to publish the names, designations/status, and qualifications of the so-called ‘medical experts’,” he added.

The association says CCECC’s willingness to participate in the construction of two isolation centres in Abuja was a gesture not different from that of Corporate Nigeria in response to COVID-19, including Guaranty Trust Bank’s donation of an isolation centre to Lagos state.

“Unless there is something else, we don’t know,” Faduyile added.

“We wish to respectfully request the Presidential Task Force to deal with the genuine concerns of her people including all the professional bodies that have spoken out against this curious decision to engage the Chinese at all cost. A recipient of donations is still at liberty to pick and choose,” he said.