The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is working to curb substandard nursing and midwifery training through harmonised accreditation criteria aimed at protecting patients and improving healthcare delivery across the region.
Prof. Koffi Balogou, president of the Regional Council for Health Professionals Education, said this at a regional workshop in Abuja to finalise the criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions.
Balogou said some institutions admitted students who did not meet academic requirements and operated without qualified teaching staff, adequate infrastructure or essential learning resources, undermining professional standards and patient safety.
He warned that such practices exploited families investing in education and exposed communities to risks associated with inadequately trained health professionals.
He said the proposed accreditation framework would ensure that only institutions meeting established standards were authorised to provide nursing and midwifery education and award recognised qualifications.
The framework, he added, would protect families from institutions that collected fees without providing adequate training or legitimate qualifications.
Balogou said harmonised accreditation would also promote mutual recognition of professional qualifications and facilitate the movement of qualified nurses and midwives among ECOWAS member states.
He commended the West African Health Organization (WAHO) for promoting the harmonisation of health professional education and strengthening regional cooperation.
He also thanked WAHO Director-General Prof. Palokinam Pitche for supporting the workshop and the Nigerian Government for hosting it in Abuja.
Representing Senegalese President Bassirou Faye, chair of the ECOWAS Authority, Dr Awa Seck said harmonised accreditation criteria would strengthen regional integration and improve nursing and midwifery education.
Faye said the quality of healthcare depended significantly on the education and training of the professionals providing services.
He described nurses and midwives as the backbone of healthcare systems, highlighting their essential roles in communities and contributions to achieving universal health coverage.
According to him, harmonised accreditation was a strategic investment in patient safety, professional mobility and the continuous improvement of healthcare across West Africa.
Faye said the framework would establish common, recognised and rigorous standards for nursing and midwifery programmes, regardless of where professionals received their training.
He emphasised, however, that member states must ensure the criteria were effectively implemented, adopted and continually improved after their formal approval.
Faye said he was confident the workshop would reach consensus while respecting national circumstances and advancing shared regional goals.
Earlier, Prof. Boni Avoaka, representing the deans of faculties of health sciences, said harmonised accreditation was essential to strengthening public health and improving the quality of health professional education.
Avoaka said nursing and midwifery professionals played fundamental roles in maternal, child and community health, making consistent and rigorous training standards imperative.
He said academic institutions had a responsibility to meet international training standards while supporting professional mobility through mutually recognised qualifications and credible accreditation systems.
According to him, harmonisation would strengthen regional quality assurance, improve educational standards and foster trust among universities, faculties and training institutions.
Also speaking, Prof. Yao Tettey, representing West African professional colleges, urged participants to build on WAHO’s existing work on harmonised accreditation, training curricula, professional practice, ethics and workforce development.
Tettey said discussions during the West African College of Physicians’ 50th anniversary celebrations had highlighted the need for greater collaboration on the accreditation of training institutions.
He urged professional colleges to avoid duplicating existing work and instead build on WAHO’s investments to ensure the frameworks benefited relevant institutions across the region.
Although the workshop focused on nursing and midwifery, Tettey said the participation of professional colleges, training institutions and regulatory bodies created opportunities to develop accreditation criteria applicable across the region.
He urged participants to ensure the final document met high standards and was shared with professional colleges, training institutions and regulatory authorities for adoption and implementation.
The three-day regional workshop, which opened in Abuja on Thursday, Oct. 29, is expected to finalise harmonised accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions across ECOWAS member states.
