Federal Government Identifies Insecurity, Brain Drain As Health Workforce Challenges
The Federal Government has identified insecurity and brain drain as key challenges affecting the availability of health workers and the delivery of healthcare services at the community level.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare disclosed this at the National Consultation on Advancing Nigeria’s Community Health Workforce Agenda, convened by CARE International and other development partners in Abuja.
Speaking at the National Consultation on Advancing Nigeria’s Community Health Workforce Agenda, the Director and Head of Health Planning, Research and Statistics at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. John Ovuoraye, highlighted the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening the workforce required to provide quality healthcare services to Nigerians.
He also emphasised the need for greater attention to health workers in tertiary and secondary healthcare facilities, as well as those providing services directly within communities, primary healthcare centres and health posts.
According to Ovuoraye, the Federal Government and stakeholders in Nigeria’s health sector are pushing for stronger collaboration to improve the status of community health workers and expand access to primary healthcare services across the country.
In another development, Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has commissioned a N1 billion state-of-the-art Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Digital Experience Centre at the University of Cross River State, Calabar, providing students with free access to laptops, desktops and other digital resources.
The modern facility, delivered through the Renewed Hope Initiative in partnership with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), is designed to provide young people, particularly economically disadvantaged students who cannot afford digital devices, with free access to digital resources and devices.
Commissioning the facility on Friday at the university’s main campus in Calabar, Oluremi Tinubu said the new centre is expected to give students uninterrupted opportunities to learn, create and build digital skills without the barriers of device ownership and unstable electricity supply.
The project is part of a countrywide initiative involving tertiary educational institutions across the country’s geopolitical zones as beneficiaries in the pilot phase.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has raised the alarm that only half of children in Cross River State are being fed appropriately, warning that the state is “missing out on half of its children” despite the availability of food and water resources.
The call was made on Thursday during a UNICEF visit to Ediba Primary Health Care Centre in Calabar Municipal and Mayne Avenue Primary Health Centre in Calabar South Local Government Area.
UNICEF Nigeria’s Chief of Nutrition, Nemat Hajeebhoy, said that while malnutrition rates have declined in the state, the progress is not enough.
“The rates of malnutrition overall have come down in Cross River State. However, it’s still not enough and we need to do more,” she said.
Hajeebhoy expressed concern over poor feeding practices and urged the government and parents to take urgent action to improve the nutritional well-being of children in the state.
