Sub-Saharan Africa is in turn officially affected by the new coronavirus. A case of contamination has just been confirmed in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, recalling the fears triggered during the Ebola epidemic which had affected this sprawling megalopolis of 20 million inhabitants six years ago.
The Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed a coronavirus (Covid-19) case in Lagos State Nigeria. The case which was confirmed on 02/27/2020 is the first case to be reported in Nigeria since the beginning of the outbreak in China in January 2020 @WHO @BBCWorld #CoronaVirusUpdates pic.twitter.com/uF79NYzvAz
- Federal Ministry of Health, NIGERIA (@Fmohnigeria) February 27, 2020Patient "has no disturbing symptoms"
On Twitter, the Federal Ministry of Health "confirms a case of coronavirus (Covid-19) in the state of Lagos. This case, which was confirmed on February 27, 2020, is the first to be identified in Nigeria since the start of the epidemic. ” The ministry specifies that it is about an Italian national working in Nigeria and who returned to this country from the Italian city of Milan on February 25. "The patient is in a stable clinical state and does not present any worrying symptoms," assured the ministry, without however giving details on the places of his hospitalization.
This announcement had been feared for several days by the WHO. Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent with nearly 200 million people, is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world with a fragile health system and an extremely high population density (nearly 7,000 inhabitants per km2).
The Ebola experience
In 2014, when the first case of Ebola was reported in Lagos, the country's economic capital, the whole world had held its breath and a wind of absolute panic had spread in the city. Finally, only seven people died, out of 19 infected, from this highly contagious disease which left more than 11,000 people dead in West Africa between the end of 2013 and 2016. WHO had hailed "the spectacular success" in the face of what could have become “an apocalyptic urban epidemic”: the Lagos State authorities had reacted in time, medical personnel from international foundations stationed in Abuja were deployed, and the disease remained confined to the upmarket districts of the city .
It remains to be seen how the situation will evolve this time. Many Nigerians leave for China to buy goods which they then resell on the markets of this economic hub which serves all of West Africa, and the Nigerian health authorities had already prepared themselves to face a potential contamination . "We have quarantine centers in Abuja (federal capital), and also in Lagos," said Health Minister Olorumibe Mamora in mid-February, assuring that the country was "under surveillance" and that laboratories to detect the virus has been opened in several cities across the country.
"We have learned lessons from Ebola," said the director general of WAHO (West African Health Organization), Stanley Okolo. “All of our member countries contribute to a health security fund, called the Ebola Fund, and we have international partners who also contribute. The devastation of an epidemic has an impact on everyone, "he said last week, calling on all countries in the area to submit a strategic preparedness plan.
Lack of budget for health
Nigeria, a country where the smallest “average” city borders on a million inhabitants and which has two megalopolises of more than 10 million inhabitants, has forecast an amount of 427.3 billion naira (800 million euros) for the health sector in 2020. This represents 4.1% of its budget, that is to say far from the WHO recommendations which amounted to more than 13%. The lack of infrastructure, the obsolescence of equipment, but also the inability of patients to pay for their treatments or the massive departure of its doctors abroad, make the leading oil exporter in Africa one of the worst students in continent in terms of health.
Society
Coronavirus: What we know about the 12 new infections in the Oise
Society
Coronavirus: What measures are companies taking to protect their employees?
- Video
- Health
- West Africa
- Nigeria
- Africa
- epidemic
- coronavirus
- World