Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has underscored the place of male nurses in the provision of quality maternal and child health services, while pledging to ensure a significant increase in the ratio of male in the nursing profession in the country.
Adewole spoke in an interview with Blueprint Weekend at the just concluded “3-day First Men in Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Conference” organised by the Leadership Advocacy Manpower Practice (LAMP) Africa in collaboration with the American Association of Male Nurse (AAMN) in Abuja.
The minister said the conference, was part of the effort to increase male enrollment in nursing and midwifery by 2020.
Represented by the Director of Hospital Service, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Pada Inuwa Balami, the minister said: “ The involvement of male nurses in community midwifery will also go a long way to curb the rising wave of maternal and child mortality.
“Our men nurses have a significant role to play in the health sector. We must continuously improve their skills, equip them to provide adequate care in the 21st century as they form the integral part of human resource for health”.
Continuing, the minister added that “every effort is being made to ensure gender equality in every profession and indeed every sphere of life. The nursing profession should therefore not be the exclusive preserve of women. More male should be encouraged to take up this profession.”
Speaking also in a chat with Blueprint, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) the LAMP Africa and the initiator of the First Men in Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Conference, Emmanuel Egorp, said the conference was aimed at breaking the stereotype against men in nursing and midwifery.
He said this will help them to become more comfortable, feel accepted, satisfied and motivate them to give themselves whole heartedly to the profession which will at the long run directly affect quality health care and better health for the people.
“We are only highlighting an existing gap. Africa largely is a patriarchal society where men are spear heading a whole lot of things and there has being that gender issue not just in nursing”.
