National Hospital and VIP section

The plan to set up a VIP section at the National Hospital, Abuja, that will cater for presidents, top government officials and other highly placed personalities in and outside the country will curb brain drain, medical tourism, capital flight and attract more investments in the nation’s health sector. According to the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Prof Mahmud Raji, the residential building or accommodation facility attached to the VIP section would be like a five star or seven star hotel to cater for all categories of VIPs. The VIP section would also have a toxicology laboratory for testing of poison from foods or the environment in case of emergencies for visiting presidents. It will also have a renal clinic for kidney transplants, cardiac centre, orthopaedic centre and neuroscience institute for training and service. This is part of plans to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the referral hospital established in 1999 in Abuja.

In a related development, Prof Raji has disclosed that the brain drain plaguing the health sector had reduced its workforce from 3,000 to 2,500 in spite of its 25 years of medical breakthroughs and significant staff expansion. Apart from being the first in Africa to have an Alinach Machine and leading in Nigeria for Invitro Fertilization (IVF), its “notable milestones include separation of conjoined twins, performing the first open brain surgery with the patient fully awake, and pioneering treatments for chronic arthritis and brain surgeries.”

The brain drain in the health sector has reached an alarming rate and the government must do something urgently to check the menace.  The best way to retain our health professionals, including doctors and nurses, is by enhancing their welfare package and working environment. As long as they are not adequately remunerated, the brain drain will continue unabated. The time has come for the Federal Government to increase our annual health budget to 20 per cent. The current paltry funding of the health sector cannot significantly improve the welfare and working environment of Nigerian doctors and other healthcare professionals. No fewer than 12,198 Nigerian doctors are licensed to practise in the United Kingdom (UK). This excludes Nigerian doctors who were trained in other countries. There are also many Nigerian doctors working in the United States, Canada and other countries. Similarly, thousands of Nigerian nurses work in the UK, the US and Canada.

While the setting up of a VIP section in the National Hospital Abuja is welcome, the plan should be extended to the six teaching hospital called “centres of excellence” and located in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country. These so-called centres of excellence should indeed be adequately equipped and funded to reflect excellence in healthcare delivery. We also task the government to ensure that the Aso Rock Clinic is adequately equipped and funded. We recall the reported pathetic picture of that clinic during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari by the former First Lady. We hope that the situation has been improved.

What we are saying in essence is that the revamping of the nation’s healthcare delivery system should go beyond the building of a VIP section for the National Hospital. We must ensure that the over 1,000 Primary Healthcare Centres across the country are equipped and functional. While the referral centres should be made to offer the best medical services obtainable anywhere in the world, healthcare services at the primary and secondary levels should not be neglected.

The federal, state and local governments should make conscious efforts to prioritise and revamp the comatose health sector through adequate funding. The healthcare of all Nigerians should be given the desired attention and not only those of the VIPs. The Federal Government’s plan to lure some of these doctors back home is so slow and does not seem to be effective.

The poor welfare package of Nigerian doctors and other health workers will not make any doctor or any other health worker stay and work in Nigeria. Apart from doctors, other professionals in science, engineering and IT are leaving the country in droves to Europe and America. In the same vein, university lecturers have also jump on the bandwagon. The brain drain in the health sector is real and must be quickly addressed before it spirals out of control.