HISTORICAL TRENDS OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES: EXPLORING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCES, 2019-2023

Abstract

The paper discusses the historical trends of communicable diseases: exploring the COVID-19 pandemic and the Nigerian experiences, 2019-2023. It explores diseases such as Smallpox, Bubonic Plague, and Spanish Flu, COVID-19 and their impacts. It examines the area of similarities and similarities between COVID-19 and other pandemics in the past in terms of transmissions and global response. It highlights how COVID-19 impacted on economy, health, education, and also examines how the government of Nigeria and the citizens responded during the COVID-19 outbreak. The paper adopted the historical qualitative objective content analysis method of primary and secondary sources. The findings of the study reveal among other things, that globalization and improvement in transportation caused the COVID-19 to spread all over the world within a couple of weeks, unlike other communicable diseases in the past. It also showed that advancement in modern medicine led to the fast invention of vaccines and that Information Communication Technology (ICT) related businesses boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic period as a result of lockdowns and social distancing. The findings also showed that the Nigerian Government was ill- equiped in her efforts to combat the pandemic and that the citizens felt betrayed by manner in which the government treated its citizens. It concluded with the notion that if the coordinated efforts and cooperation as was seen by countries and international organizations towards the fight against the COVID-19 is sustained, future inevitable outbreaks of communicable diseases may be controlled on time. The paper concluded by stressing that if the same efforts used in combating COVID-19 are rechanneled towards the fight against poverty and crimes that the world will gradually become a better place for all.