COVID-19 AND PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY IN NIGERIA RE-APPRAISING THE NATIONAL EMERGENGY STRATEGY (2020-2022)

Abstract

The advent of Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in China towards the last quarter of 2019 gripped the entire world with fear, horror and anxiety, due to its mortality rate and the potential impact on global health system, particularly in developing countries. In Nigeria, though the Covid-19 pandemic started with just a single index case, but within a short period of time the virus had graduated into a frightening community level transmission pattern which elicited the concern of numerous stakeholders in the health sector. It is against this backdrop, therefore, that this paper attempts to examine the nexus between Covid-19 and public health policy in Nigeria; and how the latter could be used to prevent, control and combat future pandemic and other health emergencies in the country. Using the Risk Society Theory as a premise, this paper posit that sometimes due to the overreaching tentacles of globalization, a local public health crisis in one corner of the globe, if not collectively and efficiently managed, could disrupt and trigger other adverse consequences on health security, socio-cultural lifestyle and national economies in other parts of the world. The paper adopts the qualitative and analytical method of inquiry to interrogate both phenomena and concludes by proffering some concrete and pragmatic recommendations that could be taken to deal appropriately with future incidents of national health emergencies through the instrumentality of public policy.