Strategic roadmap of Nigeria’s health sector
Demographic matters in Nigeria fall within the corridor of deep seated concerns marked by clogs of controversies. Among the plethora of concerns on the subject, the notation on the health profile of the Nigerian population stands out with many reservations. The consideration of detective frameworks within which the health sector in the Country is premised and structured, have left a sour reflection on the health profile of the population.
Issues of poor working conditions have remained a subject of contest between the stakeholders and the Government, with the brunt falling on the constrained masses. The inability of the Government to address the deep seated concerns has remained the spurring ground for grievances with metabiotic strings, which among others, have been informing the regretted phenomenon of brain-drain. While the scores of lamentations of hostile environment by health workers have not been addressed, the resort of health professionals to seek greener pastures overseas has only left worsening records for the human resources profile of the Nigerian health sector. In as much as the phenomenon may not be peculiar to the Country, Nigeria’s case appears too deep seated as more of Nigerian trained medical professionals, are increasingly becoming productive to enhance the human resources of health systems in the Western world, while the health system at home is famishing.
Last weekend, the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS) had noted that 36 African countries were facing health human resources crisis, maintaining that 10 among them were facing “critical shortages.” The Registrar/Secretary-General, WAPCMLS, Dr. Godswill Okara, at a pre-conference briefing, in Abuja, last weekend, was quoted, “36 countries in the African Region have a health human resources crisis and 10 of these face critical shortages. This acute shortage of skilled health workers means that most countries are unable to avail appropriately skilled health workers in the right quantity where they are needed. Human capacity development is critical in the provision of an effective and efficient heath care service. The achievement of the 2019-2023 WHO ‘Triple Billion Target’ can only be possible if the health workforce operates in collaboration and cooperation among themselves, as it obtains in other parts of the developed world.”
It is incontrovertible that Nigeria cannot be excused from the records of the human resources strains. The Giant of Africa, with her population, largely attracts deep seated deficits of human resources in her health sector. It has become pertinent for the Government to become strategic in effort towards addressing the strains in the health sector. The need to work in terms of strategic roadmap to, among other issues, address the human resource challenges is sine qua non. The place for such roadmap becomes important in the light of coordinating strategic interventions guided by robust frameworks of broad objectives. Reminiscent of such roadmap was the 20th November 2012 meeting, in Luanda, Angola, where the 62nd Session of the World Health Organisation Afro-Regional Committee, composed of Ministers of Health of the 46 Member States, adopted the Roadmap on Human Resources for Health aimed at scaling up and improving health service delivery in Africa. The Regional Roadmap proposes strategies and actions to overcome the health workforce challenges in Africa.
It has become necessary with prevailing health challenges of the Nigerian demography, that the Government work in line with the objectives of such Roadmap which proposed strategies and actions in the six areas of strengthening health workforce leadership and governance capacity; establishing or strengthening human resources for health regulatory capacity; scaling up education and training of health workers with appropriate skills mix; optimising the utilisation, retention and performance of the active health workforce; improving health workforce information and generation of evidence for decision making; and strengthening health workforce dialogue and partnership. The place for such strategic framework is non-negotiable if the government look towards a healthy population to propel the yearnings of socio-economic growth and development for appreciable living conditions.
