ACOMIN: Exodus of Health Workers Affecting Nigeria’s Malaria Control Efforts
The continuous exit of young professionals in the health sector for greener pastures abroad is negatively affecting Nigeria’s effort at controlling the malaria scourge.
The National Coordinator of the Civil Society in Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN), Mr. Ayo Ipinmoye who stated this at a meeting with journalists in Abuja, said migration of trained professionals to other parts of the world was also causing a drain on the huge investment made over the years to prop up the healthcare sector.
He said: “Strikes have become a fixture with healthcare workers perennially complaining of unsatisfactory working conditions and to compound issues, we have exodus of trained healthcare workers to the advanced countries of the world.
“Any gains made through investments over the years is being leached through the emigration of our young and bright ones”.
While giving insights into the prevalent level of malaria in the country, Ipinmoye said in 2019, Nigeria contributed a major percentage of global indices.
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Quoting UNICEF figures, he noted that while Nigeria represents 2.4 per cent of world’s population, it contributes 10 per cent of deaths from pregnant mothers.
“We have under five death rates of 113.8 per cent out of 1000 live births, for malaria we deliver 27 percent of all cases 23 percent of malaria mortatility.
“Current statistics show that healthcare institutions rendering services in Nigeria are 33,303 General Hospitals, 30,378 primary healthcare centres and 59 Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres,” he said.
In an apparent reference to the move by federal government to privatise some healthcare institutions to secure better funding, Ipinmoye said partnership with the private sector rather than government’s total hands off would be a better option.
According Ipinmoye, though the Nigerian constitution conferred on the government the core responsibility of securing lives, property and health of the citizens, it has become obvious now that it cannot deliver on alone.
He said that it had become necessary that government at all levels, whilst increasing the budgetary allocations to health, ensuring accountability and transparency in the implementation of the budget, also creates opportunity for the participation of the community and private sector.
