A new policy brief has raised concerns about Nigeria’s struggling healthcare workforce, warning that inadequate staffing, uneven distribution of health workers, and low motivation pose major threats to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The report, released by Development Governance International (DGI) Consult, on Thursday in Abuja, highlights alarming statistics.
It said: “Nigeria’s infant mortality rate stands at 69 deaths per 1,000 live births, far exceeding the Sub-Saharan African average of 49.
“Additionally, only 50 per cent of births in the country are attended by skilled health professionals, a critical gap that contributes to high maternal and child mortality,” it said.
DGI Consult’s Managing Partner, Dr Garfa Alawode, emphasised that “without a well-structured and motivated health workforce, achieving quality healthcare for all Nigerians remained a distant dream.
Alawode, Co-convener of the UHC2023 Forum, warned that the shortage of frontline healthcare workers, particularly in rural areas, was a ticking time bomb.
The report outlined government efforts to address these challenges, including the Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCOUR) policy, which aims to streamline healthcare workforce management at the state level.
Other initiatives, such as the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) and Community Health Influencers, Promoters, and Services (CHIPS), have been deployed to expand healthcare access in underserved regions.
It, however, said significant challenges had persisted. Findings from a Human Resources for Health (HRH) situation analysis conducted across ten states, including Lagos, Kaduna, and Borno, revealed that many health facilities remained critically understaffed, and policies designed to ensure the equitable distribution of health workers had yet to be fully implemented.
Stakeholders, therefore, urged the government to fast-track the implementation of the 10-year Primary Health Care HRH Strategic Plan and improve working conditions to curb the mass migration of Nigerian health workers abroad.
A Public Health expert, Dr Oladipo Shehu said, “This is a national emergency.”
According to Shehu, If we do not act fast, Nigeria will continue to lose its best medical minds to other countries, and the impact on public health will be devastating.
With health indicators lagging behind regional averages, stakeholders insist that optimising human resources for health should be a top priority if Nigeria is to meet its UHC goals by 2030.
NAN
