Why COVID-19 Is ‘Not A Big Problem’ In Nigeria – German Medical Expert

A German-born Netherlands based medical specialist, Dr. Ernst Josef Franzek, has said that COVID-19 is not a big problem in Nigeria comparing to civilized countries where there are underlying diseases caused by affluency and consecutive unhealthy lifestyle by people.

Dr Franzek, who majored in Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, in an interview, said that Nigeria’s populace do not suffer from diseases caused by abundance, but in contrast by diseases caused by scarcity like lack of healthy food, lack of clean drinking water, lack of proper sanitation.

He said that in highly civilized western countries affected adversely by coronavirus pandemic, many people grow old even when suffering from chronic diseases, which are mostly caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, like diabetes 2, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, obesities, and others.

According to him, people in the West with such underlying chronic health challenges, still have good life span because of highly effective health care systems available for almost everybody.

Dr Franzek maintained that death rates related to COVID-19 in Nigeria and other African countries are very low apparently because Africa does not have diseases caused by affluency and consecutive unhealthy lifestyle.

“For example, the population of Nigeria with now about 200 million people, is mostly younger than 40 years. This mean life expectancy is far below 60 years. This is caused by many early deaths before age 5.

“The reason for this is a lack of adequate midwifery and lack of (early) baby care. Another reason of the high prevalence of deaths before 59 years are diseases which could have been easily treated by a normal functioning health care system.

“However, proper healthcare is only available for the privileged and upper class people”.

According to him, only the few privileged people in the country have a life expectancy compared to the civilized western countries.

“An overwhelming number of people in Nigeria, however, live in poverty or even in extreme poverty with less than 1 dollar income per day.

He explained that the great majority of Nigeria’s populace do not suffer from diseases caused by abundance, but in contrast by diseases caused by scarcity like lack of healthy food, lack of clean drinking water, lack of proper sanitation.

“It screams to the sky that more than 40 million people do not even have functioning toilets and adequate sanitation”.

Dr Franzek, who has been working in the Netherlands as a clinician and researcher with special focusses on Addiction, Double Diagnosis and Mental Health in general since 2003, contended that coronavirus is not the current prevailing problem in Nigeria but poverty, corruption and lack of mental health care is the biggest diseases.

He said that Africa nay Nigeria is exploited by the civilized western countries for every opportunity including challenges posed by deadly diseases since Africa had failed to put a proper healthcare system in place for the people.

“The problem of Africa is poverty, mismanagement of resources, neglect of the youths, exploitation of natural resources through the so-called civilized world.

“The civilized world promotes corruption in Africa, based on greed for power and money. Since more than 500 years Africa is exploited from its resources, the common population is enslaved with starvation wages and child labor. The last centuries modern work-slavery took over the place of the ancient slave trading.

“The consequences of these dreadful and inhuman situation are high levels of violence, criminality, insurgencies, child soldiers, addictive behaviors. Violence and addiction are the result of poverty and not the cause of poverty”, he added.

Besides, he said that Charity is often used to cover up crimes on humanity and environment, adding that Nigeria and Africa does not need charity.

“Nigeria and Africa can preserve themselves. What Africa  needs is empowerment of its own population. Magic elements of this approach must be respect for the sanctity of every human’s life, free midwifery and primary baby care, available healthy food and clean water, quality education for everybody, free University education for skilled young people, keeping well educated people in the country (no brain drain), making natural resources benefitting the whole populace and not only being of benefit forfew privileged andgreedy business organizations.

“Not the status of  parents should determine the life and development of Nigeria’s and African’s children and youths, but talents, skills, ambition and personal effort. Extreme poverty and also extreme richness has to be banned. These issues should belong to the major tasks of elected governments”, he said.

Dr Franzek, whose organization, the Legionnaire for Mankind’s Health in the Netherlands in collaboration with the Sunny Ofehe Foundation, donated several food items and face masks to poor people in Delta State, said that the consequences of chronic hunger and malnutrition, lack of future for the youths in Nigeria can be at least partly a reason for the high prevalence of violence, criminal and addictive behaviors in the country.

“The overall conclusion is that criminals, addicted and other (mentally) ill people should not be the only focus of interventions of governments. The underlying problems like lack of enough and healthy food, lack of clean water and adequate housing, lack of midwifery and adequate baby care, lack of adequate sanitation, lack of primary and secondary education, have to be tackled intensively”.

According to him, Africa continent and Nigeria have poor budgetary allocation for health challenges hence the prevailing cases of people dying of underlying health issues than COVID-19.

“The budgets for Health Care are very low and health care institutions are mostly concentrated in big cities. Falling ill is for most people a great catastrophe and a fall in even deeper poverty. Suffering from normally good treatable diseases is often life threatening.

“In Nigeria Mental Health Care is completely lacking outside big cities. Traditional healers and the church are treating severely psychiatrically ill people. As a doctor who cares for (mentally) ill people I feel very sad about this situation”.

He said that Community mental health care is almost completely lacking in Nigeria, particular in the rural parts of the country.

According to him, the problems with respect to mental health care challenges are in particular acute psychiatric issues like depressive disorders, acute psychotic disorders and acute drugs related disorders.

“Mental health care should be integrated in the primary health care within the communities. Trained health care workers should be able to go with mobile units to the patient’s house or community. Regularly consultation hours should be held by trained health care workers in the communities.

“It would be desirable that at least 1 psychiatrist would be available for 10.000 people (now 0,1 for 1 million people). Treatment wards should not be concentrated only in big cities. Mental health care in the primary health care situation should be fully funded by the government.

“The country has to build up a social primary healthcare system with and for local people.The health care system has to get independent from outside the country, independent from NGO’s located in other countries, and also independent from religious institutions and charity organizations. Health is not a matter of praying as well as having a good education is also not a matter of praying, but a matter of action, personal effort and initiative”.