Dr Walter Mulombo, Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has commended the FCT Administration for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Mr Anthony Ogunleye, Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said Mulombo disclosed this when he led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the FCTA.
Mulombo also acknowledged the effectiveness of the actions of the FCTA in the fight against the virus.
” When I arrived on June 19, I was surprised by the organisation I saw at the airport, the way I was received, the way I went through all the processes and where I stayed in quarantine for 14 days.
” It was so perfect. It was really something that was properly done. So, I wish to congratulate you on that one.”
He also called for continued vigilance from the populace until a vaccine was developed.
According to him, COVID-19 is here to stay with us for some time until we find an effective vaccine.
“But until then, the FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, you need to remain vigilant. The only tool here is non-pharmaceutical intervention. I am happy to see that we are wearing face masks.
“It’s very important that we continue to adhere to those principles of social distancing because the other tools are being experimented.
“So, we need to make sure that what we are seeing, the downward decline in cases actually translates the truth of what is going on in the communities.”
Mulombo called for a collaboration between WHO and the FCTA for the effective control of the disease and its effects both on the health and economic sides.
He used the occasion to commended the FCTA for its role in the eradication of polio in Nigeria, which had paved the way for the entire African continent being certified as polio free.
He pledged the support of the WHO to the FCTA in its efforts at ensuring that as many residents as possible are enrolled in the FCT Health Insurance Scheme.
” We have your agenda as our preoccupation. Your priorities are our priorities. We want to continue to support the FCT until such a time that everybody benefits from universal health coverage.”
He also called on the FCTA to continue to pave the way so that its policies could be replicated in other states of the country.
Responding, the FCT Minister, Bello, said that the FCTA had always enjoyed a very close working relationship with the WHO.
He said that whatever successes the FCTA had achieved in the health sector was due to the collaborative efforts with the WHO.
Bello disclosed that the priority of the FCTA in the health sector was the development of the Primary health care system.
He called on the WHO to assist in the areas of capacity building in ensuring that primary healthcare centers are self-sustaining with improved funding and better legislation.
In attendance were the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola, Chief of Staff to the FCT Minister, Malam Bashir Mai-Bornu and the Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Mohammed Kawu.
Others are the FCT WHO Office Coordinator, Dr Fureatu Zakari and other officials of the FCTA and the WHO.