NSA: Only 1,200 Anaesthetists In Nigeria For 200m Nigerians
According to the Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists (NSA), there are only 1,200 anaesthetists in Nigeria to cater to over 200 million Nigerians.
The group stated this at a briefing marking World Anaesthesia Day 2022 with the theme “Medication Safety” and said that over 5 billion people lack access to safe anaesthesia globally.
The president of the NSA, Prof. Elizabeth Ogboli Nwasor, said unsafe medication practices and medication errors were the leading causes of avoidable harm in health care across the world.
She added that five percent of all patients who are admitted to a hospital experience a medication error.
Read Also: Group sensitises Kwara Govt on surgical interventions
Read Also:
She said that World Anaesthesia Day began in 1846 when doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrated the use of ether for the first time on a patient.
“This was attributed to William Thomas Green Morton. In doing so they changed surgery forever, proving it was possible for patients to undergo surgery without the torture of pain previously associated with it” she said.
“Despite nearly 170 years having passed since that first anaesthetic procedure and the countless breakthroughs that have succeeded it, nearly 5 billion people continue to lack access to safe anaesthesia practices.
“It is projected that 5% of all patients who are admitted to a hospital experience a medication error, and that an average hospital will have one medication error every 23 hours or every 20 admissions.
“Medication errors result in severe patient harm, disability, and even death. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at $42 billion USD annually.”
