COVID-19: The Need for Rational Use of Face Masks in Nigeria
Open Access
- 8 July 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 103 (1), 33-34
- https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-0433
Abstract
Because of the pandemic of COVID-19, the federal government of Nigeria has instituted a mandatory policy requiring everyone going out in public to wear face masks. Unfortunately, the Nigeria media is awash with images of misuse and abuse of face masks by the public, government officials, and healthcare workers. Medical masks are used widely in community settings amid reported scarcity within healthcare facilities. It is observed that some people wear face masks on their chin and neck, and mask wearers give no attention to covering their mouth and nose, especially when talking. Used face masks are kept with personal belongings or disposed indiscriminately in public spaces, leading to self and environmental contamination. Inappropriate use and disposal of face masks in Nigeria could promote the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country and negate the country’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. In the implementation of the universal masking policy in Nigeria, federal and state governments ought to consider local applicability, feasibility, and sustainability, as well as identify and mitigate all potential risks and unintended consequences. Also critical is the need for intensive public sensitization and education on appropriate use and disposal of face masks in the country.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- COVID-19 epidemic: disentangling the re-emerging controversy about medical facemasks from an epidemiological perspectiveInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2020
- Rational use of face masks in the COVID-19 pandemicThe Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2020