The Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) has urged the Federal Government to increase public awareness about Coronavirus -2019 (COVID-19)in the country.
The President of CMA, Dr Osahon Enabulele, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Benin.
Enabulele said the government needed to do more to create awareness in all parts of the country to prevent the disease from spreading.
“The people in the rural environment and at the lowest rungs of the societal ladder need to be aware of this COVID-19
“In every jurisdiction, there supposed to be people who would disseminate credible health information to people.
“The government and public institutions in all nations have designated health officials who have the duties and responsibilities to convey such information to the public.
“In other countries, you have officers and medical personnel who also disseminate information on the state of health of the people and the country,” he said.
He said that there was no need for controversy over the disease, as the Minister of Health had declared that Nigeria already had a case.
“And, until there are credible reasons to say it is not true, for now, we can only rely on the information from the Ministry of Health supported by the National Center for Disease Control.
“We have already seen the Italian that had been infected with the virus.
“Rather than dwelling in the controversy about the virus, let us join hands and fight this enemy of mankind and create awareness,” he said.
According to him, an increase in public awareness, hygiene and avoiding sick people could help in fighting the disease.
He said Nigerians should look towards fighting coronavirus and beef up infrastructural support, urging the government to provide more equipment to detect the disease.