Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) has called for the convocation of a health summit to address the alarming brain drain in the Nigerian health sector.
The allied union made the call during its 2-day industrial relations workshop and national executive council (NEC) meeting in Ilorin, Kwara state.
NUAHP NEC–in-session decried the brain drain in the Nigerian health sector and its consequences on the health care delivery in Nigeria.
NEC also observed that the continuation of brain drain amongst all cadres of health workers would no doubt, lead to acute human resource shortage and could cripple the entire health sector in Nigeria.
The union called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, address issues causing the mass exodus of best brains in the health sector.
They commended the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari for speedily passing and signing the 2023 Appropriation Bill into law and for being consistent with the yearly budget cycle.
NEC-in-Session, however, observed that even though the N1.17 trillion budgets for the health sector was a significant improvement on the 2022 budget, it is still 5.7% of the total budget of N21.83 trillion, which falls below the 2001 Abuja declaration of 15% budgetary allocation to healthcare for African countries adopted by the African Union (AU).
NEC demanded a more proactive commitment to adequate funding of healthcare in Nigeria in order to meet up with the provision of effective, accessible and affordable healthcare for the citizens.
The National President, Comrade (Dr.) Obinna Chimela Ogbonna, in his opening remarks, decried the current excruciating socio-economic state of the nation, especially the challenges of scarcity of naira currency and premium motor spirit (PMS) which is adversely affecting cost of living, security of lives and properties and transportation.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address these situations before it gets out of hand.
