A Consultant Public Health Physician, Dr Oluwatomi Owopetu, says a widespread and affordable Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine may not be available in Nigeria earlier than two years to come.
Owopetu, who made the assertion during an online conference hosted by the Centre for Palliative Care, Nigeria, said that this was in spite of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) optimism of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020.
The WHO had on Tuesday said that there was hope for a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the online conference was to commemorate the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2020 with theme as: “My Comfort, My Care”.
Palliative care is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimising quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex illnesses.
Owopetu said that while the country awaited the distribution of safe and affordable future vaccines against COVID-19, there must be greater investment into palliative and hospice care.
According to her, a healthy future, disease survival, improved quality of life, decreased hospitalisation and reduction in medical costs cannot be achieved without a sustainable palliative and hospice care.
“Palliative and Hospice Care go beyond providing care and comfort to the dying or those terminally ill.
“It also helps to improve a patient’s quality of life and physical pain management.
“Palliative care during this pandemic should not be undermined, its importance may not be immediately evident as health systems grapple with providing curative care while coping with ever increasing influx of patients.
In the face of COVID-19, prevention and control is the top priority, and at the same time, what everyone needs most is a vaccine. However, access to widespread and affordable vaccines is not something that can be done in the short term. I hope that the health system will continue to work hard. After all, we do not have the so-called herd immunity like some countries.