ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has affected all spheres of human activities, including religion, in Nigeria. Due to its devastating effect, the state was compelled to introduce precautionary and preventive measures to reduce its spread in the country, including lockdown, ban on gatherings, and social distancing. This extraordinary situation caused different reactions among Muslim and Christian religious leaders, with some accepting COVID-19 and the restrictions and others rejecting them. This work focuses on the response to the pandemic by prominent reformist Muslim groups (the Izala and NASFAT) and two major Pentecostal Churches (Christ Embassy and Living Faith). As we show, despite many differences and even hostility between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, Muslim and Christian leaders formulated similar responses to COVID-19. Namely, they either interpreted the pandemic in spiritual rather medical terms (as God’s punishment or the work of the devil) or rejected the very existence of the coronavirus and presented the pandemic as a Western conspiracy designed to stop Muslim and Christian religious activities in Nigeria. © 2021 by the Author(s).
ABSTRACT
Background: Infectious diseases have been a constant threat to people's health and survival, at least thirty re-emerging and emerging diseases (Parks, 2009) are known to be of public health importance posing a burden to the health system;in addition, emergence of COVID-19 further tested the resilience of the health system to respond to public health emergencies (NCDC, 2020). This study assessed the effect of COVID-19 on use of maternal and child health (MNCH) services with objectives being the impact on family planning use, antenatal care visits, facility-based delivery and child related services such as immunization, child nutrition and outpatient clinic in FMC Gusau. Data from units offering MNCH services for six months, three months pre-covid-19 index case (January to March) and three months post covid-19 index case (April to June), corresponding to the period of lockdown, in addition same periods in the previous year (2019) was retrieved and entered into Statically package for social sciences (SPSS) now IBM statistic, comparison was made using comparable period of the year as well as a pre and post Covid index case. Over the six-months period, aggregate data shows that hospital visit for all categories of maternal newborn and child health reduced three months (April, May and June) post covid index case in the facility and subsequent proclamation of lockdown in the State, as compared to three-months pre-covid (January, February and first three weeks of March) Despite the additional burden imposed by the emergence of COVID-19 in FMC Gusau and the Attendant stretched on health system, the resilience of the health system was brought to fore, however with support from Federal ministry of health, National Centre for disease control and other agencies, FMC Gusau was able to use the COVID-19 emergency to strengthen service provision.