As the nation continues to battle the Coronavirus scourge, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has said that no country in the world can boast of having enough ventilators within their healthcare system.
A ventilator is a machine designed to provide mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air in and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. The machine is attached to a tube inserted in the patient’s airway so it can deliver air into the lungs.
Nigeria has less than 500 ventilators in the whole Federation, a matter that is of great concern to many Nigerians.
However while speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Ehanire said this isn’t a cause for alarm as only one of the Coronavirus cases in Nigeria requires the use of a ventilator.
“The question of ventilators; yes we are addressing it. There is no country in this world that has enough ventilators. Of all the cases we have had so far only one requires a ventilator. Some require just Oxygen. Probably less than four per cent of the cases we are dealing with require ventilators.
“Government is also taking inventory of what each state requires. The number of ventilators you have in the country does not decide your rate of survival.” he said
The Minister at the press briefing said efforts are being made to establish testing labs for the infectious disease in Abakiliki, Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt and Sokoto within the next three weeks.
