And. As dr virus spreads worldwide some medical equipment is in short supply even in developed countries and in some airports shipments are reported to have been hijacked so how is that hampering the fight against the pandemic this is inside story. Hello and welcome to the program im Richelle Carey they cost less than a dollar masks or so scarce are being snatched up during the coated 1000. 00 pandemic but that is not in the developing world as you might expect some of the richest countries are being challenged by a shortage of medical equipment world powers that are armed for the globes biggest wars are now fighting for basic protective gear for hats as a porter to have seized masks and to be shipped to spain and italy and the u. S. Is accused of diverting gear intended for the German Police an estimated 3500000000 master needed by the American Healthcare system to fight this outbreak and there are not enough and frontline workers wrist being infected as doctors and patients are asked to reuse what they have. Countries are rushing to import medical equipment from china and some are also trying to speed up their own production but that cannot happen overnight many people have been denied mask Grocery Store workers have been forced to improvise some are using bandanas or scraps of fabric and vashon designers auto makers perfectly and producers and others have altered their manufacturing lines to meet this unprecedented to man and factories that usually make sneakers and i phones have switched to health care products. Lets introduce the panel and washington d. C. Dr shihan you may professor of medicine at the George WashingtonUniversity School of medicine in bruges of the capital city of nigeria dr francis fertility president of the Nigerian Medical Association and then leads to more than england dr amir khan dr at the National Health service in the u. K. Welcome to all of you leave really appreciate you joining us for this discussion before we get down to the supply or lack as it may be lets talk about specifically masks and p. P. So when we talk about mass will start with you dr doctor but you may are all mask created equal. No there are not there are the regular masks that you see people wearing a mistreats you know sort of the public and then there are what we call and 95 masts which are for the Health Care Professionals on the front lines these are special asks meant to basically filter particles and sort of are an extra level of protection and dr for d. L. A. When we talk about p p and so many lay people have heard these terms now but dr finney let me talk about p. P. A. What what is this is this is what any regular doctor or nurse would wear or is this something that is very specific to dealing with with communicable things like like coronavirus well when we talk about the p p p e r lupus youre on both from the car go. This must. Drive your. Last boot all of them come past record to be the p. P. P. And it is usually one when you are treating this is that how you can tell us were no doctor could relate to this one of the. Highly quintile yours does this matter who knows that is a trend that is in the world now. For everybody to create such gooses it is suspected that you dont go to therapy p d properly or you get the p. P. All of them on because if you. Are 100 you dont have it on you as opposed to scared right you should not get in the contract in the. Us. Dr kahn so i understand what dr phil is saying that the mask n. P. P. Or important because you you are coming in close contact with someone that has coronavirus that people are showing up at Health Care Centers that you dont know whether or not theyre infected so does that mean that staff that maybe dont necessarily wear people should be wearing p. P. Should everybody in the hospital with all possible be wearing it. Yes so in england we are now treating every patient huge and so as a potential coronavirus case there are Different Levels of p. T. Particularly here in the u. K. So if you dont doing what we call them and resold generated procedures to something that doesnt force their out of the lungs and causes aerosol particles droplets contain the virus there is a lower level of personal protective equipment required and that is what we would use for patients like you say you might Just Community who are on well and we expect them because people get on well with other things we will always see patients wary and apron globes the surgical mask that was being talked about earlier not the a 95. 00 thats just the routine mask goggles as well but if were doing anything that generates aerosol syllabi creates these particles containing the virus then we will go for the full down and the full mask invoices so yes she answered the question we should really be treating all patients regardless of what theyre coming in with the potential infected cases because they may have the virus and have no sin dr but you may there was this this time this period of time where this the c. D. C. And it seemed that a lot of medical professionals were saying just regular people just civilians dont necessarily need to wear masks they they may not help in some situations they can may think make things worse then now we have the c. D. C. Largely telling people and not just to see the same medical bodies in a lot of countries saying that when youre you go outside try to wear a mask why is there a gray area as or is there a consensus on whether or not people should be wearing masks. Well remember that this is the novel covert 19 meaning we have really very little experience so as we are acquiring you know Clinical Experience not just lets say in the United States but from all over the world we have to recognize that this is a highly contagious disease to the point that when you breathe or have regular conversations you can contract that matz why this physical distancing is so important furthermore it looks like studies have shown that the virus especially in very dry air can stay around where you are even after youve left for 20 minutes so you can imagine that if youre walking by somebody in the viruses in the air for 20 minutes it really makes sense for everybody to don the mask and so thats why i mean seeing that there is complete thing information but the reality is this is i would look at this as updated information as we get more information the recommendations and the guidelines change is is there any concern that maybe sometimes if people do have a mask that they may have a false sense of security that i can still go out and about and do everything i regularly should it i mean is this not a combination of the mask and the social distancing that you just mentioned dr fayemi. Its important to also wear the gloves because the reality is that we touch surfaces that may be contaminated when we go outside so the best thing especially for people that are high risk the elderly people with chronic diseases people who are immunocompromised to release they as close to home as possible and to really minimize going outside here in washington d. C. For example we have a curfew at 8 pm and although they havent really sort of clamp down yet and get fines as they are have been other cities we are expected to only go to the Grocery Store or the pharmacy i in my car actually have a special form that i display in my car to say that im actually a Health Care Professional ok doctor if a deal late what is the status of having enough masks and nigeria and what do you know about africa even broader than that. Well. This time theyre about to use our nose my. Wits in this and see this see to realize that the director as it were we have grass done better where its big w. H. Y. Recommendation that say that the money does not cause some major. Ukridge in there protectin someone but now that it didnt w. H. O. Is revealing a stand that must be used i think we are going to stop that but one of the may dogs. May go to the major with a wish we may not be able to get it that is that we dont have enough men mice to take care of the population in nigeria although we have. A look to industry coming up with gluten mosque or different type of mosque but then as you know government has not gone ahead to make it mine decree every night you have to put the mosque we believe that is the distance in is to the best way of preventing the contra preprinted a tough mission of bad business however in our ground country we have. This very. Cause women boost their cause many of the african countries do not have industries that produce in this very important medical cause the labels because of that many of the african countries including the idea depends on importation on of because of liberals i will note that in your own camp concrete us where i live on the i do read our country many of the. Companies producing. These consumables i have to take care of the look comes up sure wish is jewish wish this you how short for so we have china has been never really been a lot of consul it was well next year im not to africa country well hopefully that we did last. Good mosque on down crumbs of must that will produce a look i loot so on. In that is are we to cook doctor which i dispense it continued to desist but dr phil i let me add let me get in there for a 2nd so i understand youre saying the importance of social distancing absolutely but if you definitely had enough masks for everybody and i geria to where would you tell them to wear that well i think. The routine we do question is green and so is the crew another arrow says no nobody asked more do fool the street or the process of quitters be sure i will advise i dont what it would only last must. It cost established on site the evidence that we stop. Drop and stop the transmission of the virus due to all Health Care Workers and i care yet have enough not even not even civilians to dis all of your Health Care Workers have the proper equipment they need. No i told you. Many are that i recon concrete that based on imports this on our credit consumables we haue some consumables that conflict out of the isolation was bust the middle problem we have is that many of the nigerian bishops we resent the regular hospitals and the whole arab laos rituals are also expected to. Do 5. For a good idea i said theres an emergency. At my deficit medical units unfortunately we already know the car might be hopeless and thats one of the dustmen you guys grab. It will do that says it will cost that on if there were enough mass to go around for everybody and hes a would you say absolutely were a mask. Yes i think i work because as my colleague in washington say the mask were learning new things about this parcel time the boss is changing what the masks to review while wearing them out tools stop you from being set you know the people with your truck thats what made it necessary provide the person wearing the mask with protection but if everybody wears a mask protect you other people probably from their breathing. As we know now you know breathing simply talking can actually produce some of these droplets containing the virus as well so masks are good for protecting other people so theoretically if there are enough masks to go around every Single Person in the u. K. I would say yes well along the social distancing measures they are far more dr ramey lets talk about the scarcity of these masks and even in the United States and theres been a lot about you know the preparedness 7 ited states what was in the stockpile and there there was a stockpile and from my reading in my research a lot of the stockpile which is during a 2001 and it was effective in their response was most seem to be on point and later standing at the stockpile hasnt really been built up what do you know about what they stockpile in the u. S. Is supposed to be and what what role its really supposed to have well let me sort of break it down and answer your questions in 2 parts i have one of my colleagues who is practicing in new york she is a Infectious Disease physician she is obviously in the epicenter where as you know hundreds of people are dying daily she has had to wear a garbage bag. To protect herself and every time she goes and sees a patient in the room she comes out and she has to clean the garbage bag with bleach she has been using the same and 95. 00 mask for a week and finally had to throw it out so these are for the Health Care Professionals i think its you know the shortage speaks to the fact that there was no real understanding or appreciation for a pandemic that was inevitable and actually under the Previous Administration there was the kind that make work force that was really getting ready for this and as far back as 2014 president obama was speaking about this and the importance of preparing for this i think that you know how the United States is handling this in general with the stockpiles specifically shows the fragmentation of our Health Care System we really are not integrating Public Health or we obviously this crisis has uncovered the incredible disparities washington d. C. Is one of the cities in the country which actually has the highest disparities in terms of Health Outcomes for africanamericans versus whites i think that frankly as a physician who has lived here and practiced here and has gotten her education here this has been an embarrassment and i think were in crisis i think that ministration has been slow to respond and really ramping up the various industries to switch to criticizing p. P. And so thats sort of my answer but i wanted to come back to your issue about masks for the public remember that you dont have to have the surgical masks bend their claws the cut. Claw scarves that are sort of double double layered can be just as effective but i think people sometimes want to go for the mast and there are shortages of those and so there are other alternatives dr carr what is your understanding of what the supply of proper p. P. Is for for medical staff and n. H. S. And then mass for the public as well what is your understanding on where things stand with that. So the official government line is that there are enough there is enough p. V. To go around all the n. H. S. Stuff we need it and the problem is getting it there so its logistics rather than supply from talking to my colleagues all around the u. K. And you know on social media there is definitely an issue with the amount of p. P. People are still having to make their own. Using plastic bags as was mentioned earlier that and really using p. P. And washing in between patients that kind of thing or even changes in between patients so there is really an issue here in the u. K. And hopefully it is just a case of logistics but i guess the evidence is that this is a logistical issue now for so it is a worry when my worry is long with my sister works in the Emergency Department well having to go to work seeing patients which is what we do and were happy to do a but without the necessary p. T. E. Thats required so it is a worry im hoping the government will get it right instead of math but the general public there is a drive here in the u. K. To to to get that done get the nobodys recommending that here in the u. K. Is it going to help england is recommending that here in the u. K. Yes it may change in the future but there is a real push for social distancing. Staying indoors it certainly seems like planning or lack of planning and there will be there will definitely some questions about this but it seems like lack of planning is obviously how we ended up with this shortage but also it seems that and dr for dale i mention this that the china produced a lot and they sayings and an important a lot of it are export rather a lot of it to the world but when they were the 1st ones to deal with corona virus they kept a lot of their own supply understandably for their own people so. Dr dale and i said that you had some things coming from china but what do you ringback think the lesson might be and this Going Forward that the world was was largely dependent on on china for this what are the lessons from that when i will stay there for africa. It is. Louder or prepare is on the top with us in this major difficulties well find ourselves right for next year in particular. We did have professionals have been complaining that the imam budgeted for i was going to make gaza whereas i was under those stays met in 2000 no one in i would be nigeria and b i agreed that a minimum of 10 percent 15 percent i mean when we budgeted for her so that they come from this us and then to that system i can tell you will make you the us has to start on the line i was not gotten they need and we are close to 50 percent of what you was 0. 06 on the spot who the us says there are better on the funding because we dont have enough formed in them some of the industries the spectator will be sudras in the best sector the produce is like mosque dance like serene just like blows im not going to risk iran. Look at me im deuced now because theyre the. Odious when i say my guess is because even before know china. Down you still grew nowhere else in fact youre affected with them but are. That feel just what were just about out of time i just want to get in one more quick question to dr b. M. A. Do you think that this will be a moment to make leaders wake up about preparedness about planning are you hopeful that that will happen absolutely i think that the lesson here that we have to learn collectively is that we are interconnected we are one race and thats the human race and that what effects somebody in china affects us here in the United States affects people in west africa in australia and but we have to work in a coordinated fashion ill just give the example of ebola virus where you had dr file chief who by the way helped to lead the way to developing a vaccine you have been to a National System working with the support of the American Administration and the International Community at that time they quassia the ebola epidemic and successfully developed a vaccine that is the approach that we need to talk about and to adopt otherwise were doing ok that will be the final word thank you all for joining me i appreciate it dr shihan ill buy you may dr francis for a day away and dr amir khan thank you and you can watch the program again any time got our web site aljazeera talk offer for the discussion got our Facebook Page facebook dot com or its slash a. 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You know what is happening in our region and we know how to get to places that others cannot the fires are still no more now the way that you can tell the story is what can make a difference. Can but al and all the top stories on aljazeera more than 113000 people have died of the new krona virus fold was 1 have been infected across europe cities were empty this easter weekend as the pandemic grips the continent and what has more. Britains Prime MinisterBoris Johnson left hospital to continue his recovery at his country residence he was discharged after a week 3 nights of which he spent in intensive care i have today left hospital after a week in which the n. H. S. Has saved my life no question its hard to find words to express my day he paid tribute to those who looked after him ive seen the personal courage not just of the doctors the nurses but of everyone the cleaners the cooks the Health Care Workers of every description physios radiograph was pharmacists who kept coming to work kept putting themselves in harms way kept risking this deadly virus the number of people who died in hospitals after being infected with corona virus in the u. K. Has now surpassed more than 10000 the u. K. Government says record amounts of personal Protection Equipment is in the system but staff treating the sick say there are still vulnerable im sorry if ministers feel that they have supplied adequate p. P. To n. H. S. Staff but thats simply not the case of what we are experiencing on the ground and its just i dont want to be seen as heroes were not martyrs and we dont want to die in the line of duty we just want to be protected so that we can do our job