Columns
Adaptation is the Key Characteristic
of China’s Policy against COVID-19
Adaptation is the Key Characteristic
of China’s Policy against COVID-19
By CUI Jianchun
On the New Year’s eve, Chinese President XI Jinping, at his 2023 New Year Address, extended greetings to all nationals as well as friends and people in the world, while claiming that, since COVID-19 struck, China has prevailed over unprecedented difficulties and challenges. China has entered a new phase of COVID response, where tough challenges remain. Everyone is holding on with great fortitude, and the light of hope is right in front of us.
After three year’s fighting against the pandemic, the whole world is much more convinced that, virus itself is the common enemy of all human beings. Till now, the coronavirus is still lingering over the world, with far-reaching social, economic and political consequences in different countries, and also with its sub-variants, such as Omicron, prevalent in many countries including China.
From the very beginning of its response against the pandemic, China has always taken responsible policies on a science-based and targeted approach, by putting people and their lives above all else, and by adapting measures dynamically and proactively. It has been proved and widely recognized that China’s COVID response policies over the past three years have realized the goal of achieving the best results at the least cost.
In the past three years, China has provided the greatest extent possible of protection to the people. China has made the best effort to protect the life and health of its 1.4bn people, and poured all resources into treating every patient, no matter its own nationals or foreigners living there. China has effectively responded to five global COVID waves, and avoided widespread infections with the original strain and the Delta variant, which are relatively more pathogenic than the current spreading variants. Globally, China has had the lowest rates of infection and mortality. Despite the pandemic, average life expectancy in China rose from 77.93 years in 2020 to 78.2 years in 2021.
In the past three years, China has witnessed the stability of its economy and also its supply chain to the world. One of the key focuses of China COVID policy is to minimize the impact of the pandemic on economic and social development. With joint efforts of the whole country, China’s economy has managed to consolidate its resilience and maintain sound fundamentals, making it a reliable driving force of global economic growth.
The country’s GDP expanded at an average annual rate of 4.6 percent from the third quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2022, which is well above the world average, according to data released by the OECD. Besides, China has also led the world in terms of trade volume, goods production and energy production, and kept its inflation rate at a relatively low level. Chinese people’s basic livelihood has been guaranteed during the pandemic. In 2022, despite a global food crisis, China has secured a bumper harvest for the 19th year in a row.
In the past three years, China has witnessed the large-scale vaccination internally. China’s efficient response policies have bought precious time for researching and developing vaccines and medicine, and raising the vaccination rate of the whole population. As of last December, more than 3.46 bn COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered on the Chinese mainland, with over 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
However, due to most of the vaccination has been done a year ago, it is hard for a large part of the Chinese population to retain a high immunity level against various mutant strains. Recently, the second booster shot campaign has been pushing forward nationwide, with special attention on elderly people and people with serious underlying health conditions.
In the past three years, China has promoted the robust international solidarity. Since COVID-19 began, China has actively participated in international response. China shared the genome sequence of the virus at the earliest opportunity, making important contributions to the drug and vaccine research around the world. The competent authorities in China has kept regular communications with the WHO, carried out dialogues with partner countries to exchange technical experience, and shared information in a timely, open and transparent manner in accordance with the law, aiming at an early global victory over the pandemic. Meanwhile, to strengthen global defenses, China has provided anti-pandemic materials to 153 countries and 15 international organizations, sent medical expert groups to 34 countries, and offered over 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.
In the last quarter of 2022, China adapted and refined its response policies, in line with a changed landscape of viral contagion. This shift is science-based, timely and necessary. It fully took into account of the much less pathogenic and deadly status of the globally spreading Omicron variant, as well as of the progress that China’s treatment, testing and vaccination capacity steadily on the rise, and would concentrate its response from stemming infection to caring for health and preventing severe cases.
According to this adaptation, people infected with coronavirus will no longer be quarantined and their close contacts will no longer be traced. Moreover, China is one step closer to fully opening to the outside, as domestic and foreign airlines will operate scheduled passenger flights, with limits on flights no longer applicable including closed management, nucleic acid testing, and quarantine measures.
Countries adjusting the COVID policy would invariably go through a period of adaptation. China is no exception.
However, China’s current COVID situation on the whole remains predictable and under control, as many cities have gone through the peak. This adaptation by China is also important from a strategic and long-term perspective, for effectively coordinating COVID response with economic and social development. American, British, German and other foreign chambers of commerce in China commend this downgrade adaptation, noting this will clear the way for resumption of people-to-people exchange and business travel, and enhance foreign investors’ confidence in the Chinese market.
Comparing with the natural virus, what we should be much more vigilant on is the political virus. As many international health experts indicate that, the main variant now spreading in China is the same one prevalent in other countries, it is senseless to impose extra restrictions on travelers from China. Political manipulation of COVID response measures by few countries would only bring chaos to world’s solidarity. In this regard, we highly commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for its science-based and proportionate COVID response measures, which has featured from the very beginning of its response.
The light of hope on final victory over pandemic is right in front of us. Just as appealed by President Xi at his New Year Address, “let’s make an extra effort to pull through, as perseverance and solidarity mean victory”.
- H.E CUI Jianchun is the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria)
Adaptation is the Key Characteristic
of China’s Policy against COVID-19
Columns
Medical and Health Developments Amidst Insecurity: The Case of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH)
Medical and Health Developments Amidst Insecurity: The Case of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH)
By: Balami Lazarus
Insecurity challenges have pervaded and taken over every inch of the Nigerian estate, spreading their wings, casting dark shadows stealthily in silence of ambush. The predator has created excuses against growth, progress, and development among ministries, departments, and agencies (MIDA’s), including health institutions where medical and healthcare services are needed.
Development means a different thing to many people. “An improvement in people’s living conditions inevitably contributes to higher productivity and to economic growth, subsequently development.” Therefore the needs of people in a particular area are their development. For example, health.
Moreover, development is essentially concerned with continuous improvements of the human life and condition right from time, in its capacity for qualitative and quantitative reproduction and capabilities to control and manipulate the environment for the betterment of mankind as a whole. Therefore, the purpose of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives at all levels of their growth and progress.
But for UMTH under Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo, the CMD, medical and health development in infrastructure, human capital, and healthcare services is a continuous process amidst insecurity in Borno State and Maiduguri, the state capital.
At UMTH, the story of growth and development has brought progress in health and medical services that are expected from institutional hospitals. The rate and level of medical and healthcare services through specialized medical centers equipped with modern state-of-the-art equipment second to none in Nigeria is a testament to health/medical development in the aforesaid hospital.
People have always examined the concept of growth and development from economic perspectives, refusing to align them to the objectives of human needs that will increase productivity to provide and satisfy these human needs to ensure good medical and healthcare service delivery that is available at all times in UMTH “Centre of Excellence.”
Prof. Ahidjo has no doubt facilitated the concept of health development through changes in the health and medical services provided by UMTH in spite of the ten security challenges staring us hard in the face.
Growth, progress, and development initiated by Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo is itself a concept of development in the health sector. The CMD has blended the concepts of development together through their aims and objectives, which are charted towards the improvements of the human standard of living in healthcare and medical services.
Prof. Ahmed’s efforts have therefore brought developments in the life of the hospital that have never been witnessed since the inception of UMTH, until the man with the Midas touch came on board with improvements and transformations of infrastructures and facilities.
Prof. Ahidjo had directed his development towards the satisfaction of the hospital’s needs, the primary objectives of UMTH, which translates to human capital development through teaching, practicals, medical research, and provisions of healthcare services to her immediate host community.
Therefore, development cannot be seen purely as economic, social, and political affairs but rather as an outcome of man’s effort to transform societal structures and institutions in the case of UMTH.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist 08036779290
Medical and Health Developments Amidst Insecurity: The Case of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH)
Columns
In Search of Our History Through Reconstruction and Restructuring of the Nigerian State for Peaceful Coexistence and Good Governance
In Search of Our History Through Reconstruction and Restructuring of the Nigerian State for Peaceful Coexistence and Good Governance
By: Balami Lazarus
This piece is an extraction from a paper I wrote years back intended to be presented to my society—the Borno Museum Society (BSM)—but it never saw the light of day. However, this is not the original title; I did some changes, putting in some terms to reflect the contemporary issues facing us currently as Nigerians.
Looking at the paper today, which had lain fallow since 1991, I laughed. Dr. Musa Hambolu and Mr. Kyari Bukar, as members, encouraged and urged me to make an effort and present the paper for onward publication in our newsletter, but it never happened. I believe this version will make sense to many more who believe in the Nigerian project as a sovereign nation.
And back to the main menu of the discourse.
One of the major historical developments in Africa south of the Sahara was the great Bantu migration that took place thousands of years ago. It was a mass exodus of the Bantu people, culture, and traditions; its droplets along the line of their migration gave birth to settlements, which had affected many ethnic nations’ language, culture, and traditions. What happened later is part of African history. We are now nestled between who are we? And what are we?
It is very clear that the reconstruction of our history through the restructuring of Nigeria and its state and conditions has long been toyed with, knowing fully well that it is the heart of our peaceful coexistence and good governance. It’s also the main bowl of our socio-political and economic growth and developments.
Our history, geography, and ethnology have drawn our attention to the state of sovereignty known, called, and addressed as Nigeria, a colonial creation, forgetting that we were here before.
the white man’s creation.
To trace the origin of the people that made up Nigeria, one cannot dismiss the substance of other disciplines like history, archeology, anthropology, geography, sociology, and linguistics, and other related subjects. These fields of scholarships have tremendously improved in the explanations of our history, artifacts, and cultural source materials of the people that were wrongfully and forcefully brought together to live and form Nigeria. Therefore,
There is the need for the restructuring of the Nigerian state for peace and good governance for the benefit of all citizens.
To achieve this, we must collectively agree with one voice to restructure our systems to find a lasting solution to our torn political garment, unity shredded with suspicion generated by us over the years. Because modernization is the process of change towards social, economic, and political systems.
Historically, Nigeria is a conglomerate of large ethnic diversities, and each represents a distinct nation with different cultures, traditions, and civilizations living independently before the forceful amalgamation of 1st January, 1914, carried out and executed by the British colonial masters. Sources available to political historians on our past underscored the necessity to shift from the present state of nationhood to a common ground that will provide us with equal opportunities to maintain and sustain our togetherness as one indivisible and indissoluble nation through reconstruction and restructuring.
The reconstruction and restructuring of our historical and political past is paramount; it will aid in checking the high rate of insecurity and criminal activities of bandits and kidnappers. And shall also clamp down on terrorists and the rise of insurgents. Restructuring will reduce sentiments and segregation in the activities of our national life.
History does not repeat itself. But people repeat history and then falsely accuse history of repeating itself.
We have consciously decided to polarize our country with Black Strike sentiments. And here we are, with agitations in different forms: Oduduwa, Biafra, Middle Belt, and Niger Delta.
Balami, Publisher/Columnist 08036779290
In Search of Our History Through Reconstruction and Restructuring of the Nigerian State for Peaceful Coexistence and Good Governance
Aspirations: A Compass for a Purposeful Journey of Life
By: Harmony Shimbura
A blueprint for a purposeful journey, the human experience is often defined not by where we are looking, but by having aspirations, a compass of purposeful life, and an act of claiming agency over one’s future.
My life’s aspirations are not merely a list of goals or a collection of ‘bucket list’ items. It is a living philosophy, a commitment to growth, connection, and the relentless pursuit of a life lived with intention. They are threads woven together for personal values and to give back to your community.
I believed the core of aspirations should be a desire for perpetual evolution. And I also believe that the moment we stop learning is the moment we stop breathing. Therefore, one of my primary goals is to remain a lifelong student where learning is a continuous process.
I aspire to deepen my understanding of the world through diverse perspectives, whether it is through traveling to places where knowledge is obtained by listening or observations, as is the case with the traditional Cherokee ways of learning.
I constantly challenge my own biases, spiritually and mentally. I aspire to reach the state of equilibrium where my peace is not dependent on external circumstances.
Do you know that aspirations transcend titles and salary brackets? Moreover, my true ambition is practical impact. I want to be engaged in work that I feel is the extension of my soul in it at whichever level. I also
I believe that work should be a contribution to the collective good of humanity.
As a young lady, I am on the self-push to achieve a level of mastery in my chosen field where my intuition is as sharp as my skills. I want to be known not just for what I did, but for how I did it with integrity, excellence, and a collaborative spirit.
Most of us neglect the vessel that carries us through life, but I aspire to treat my body with the respect it deserves. My aspirations for health are not about vanity but for sanity in purity.
These aspirations are not a destination I will one day reach; they are the fuel for a lifelong journey.
Harmony Shimbura writes from Zaria. 07033886918
Aspirations: A Compass for a Purposeful Journey of Life
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