House C’ttee Decries Growing Migration of Health Workers
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions has said that migration of health workers from Nigeria to other countries in search of greener pastures poses significant challenge to the nation’s health care system.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate also warned against duplication of health institutions across the country, saying it would be counter-productive to duplicate efforts especially in this era of scarce resources.
Speaking at a public hearing on 16 bills aimed at establishing health institutions, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Amos Magaji said that the core of the hearing was to provide guidance on the actualisation of the federal government’s commitment to improving the health care sector through the wide distribution of healthcare institutions in Nigeria.
Magaji said that as a result of the growing population, there was the need for reference hospitals closer to the people, particularly in rural and sub-urban areas.
He said the tertiary health institutions in Nigeria were designed to provide tertiary healthcare services to complement primary and secondary care in the national healthcare system.
He said this was in order to develop and expand the country’s training institutions and ensure an equitable distribution of health manpower.
He argued that the mass exodus of health workers and professionals to other countries presents a significant challenge to Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
“Recently, there has been an enormous migration of doctors, nurses and other health workers in search of greener pastures in other countries, leaving Nigeria’s health sector severely understaffed,” he maintained.
“The need to reposition the healthcare sector to meet numerous emerging challenges is crucial to its improvement. To succeed in this era, a system that is well invested on human resources and medical intelligence as the backbone of the health sector is required.
“The administrative appointment of capable persons based on merit in hospital management also has a role to play. Proper human resource management is critical to providing high-quality health care.
“ Effective human resource management strategies are critical for improving health-care outcomes and access in Nigeria. As arguably the most important of the health system inputs, the performance and benefits the system can deliver depend largely on the knowledge, skills, and motivation of those responsible for providing health services.
“It goes without saying therefore, that this aspect of our health sector must be invested in to ensure a thriving and performing sector. The structural quality of a health system is heavily influenced by its healthcare infrastructure.
“As we carried out oversight functions to healthcare institutions across the country since the inauguration of this committee, what are undeniably evident are infrastructural deficiencies of health services, lack of equipment resulting largely from inadequate funding of health institutions by the government, and a total lack of maintenance culture for equipment provided,” he stressed.
Represented by a Director in the Ministry, Dr. Jimoh Salahudeen, the minister said the ministry remains enthusiastic and supportive of every effort geared towards ensuring growth and progress in the health sector.
