The Sun Media Foundation is engaging high level stakeholders in the primary healthcare sector in Nigeria to find solutions to the mass exodus of health workers.
“We are working on reliable data on the situation of health systems in the communities across Nigeria, especially considering the quality, capacity, state of infrastructure, workforce availability, control and care resources within the community health spaces.
This is to enable us as a foundation push for important changes in policies and legislations that will curb the shrinking of health workers in the country” said, Victor Emeruwa, the foundation’s Executive Director.
Concerned about the mass exodus of medical workers in Nigeria, Emeruwa said it has reached a point of intolerance: ” in a situation where only 24,000 qualified medical practitioners serve more than 200million citizens, we should no longer sit still to watch 10 of 9 medical consultants leaving the country, 4 doctors to 10,000 citizens, 50 medical doctors leaving the country every week, and 74 percent of health practitioners waiting and willing to leave. It is time to act fast and now” Emeruwa said.
As part of the foundation’s partnership building efforts with regards to primary healthcare systems strengthening, the foundation met with the Executive Secretary, Primary health Development Board, FCT, Dr . Yahaya Vatsa, to discuss partnerships and collaborations.
” We are very willing and open to any idea that will help strengthen the primary healthcare system. It is a timely visit and a very laudable intervention that you are about to begin. We at the FCT will be happy to collaborate with the Sun Media Foundation on this very important work” Vatsa said