Concerns over the country’s health manpower decline resurfaced Tuesday as the House of Representatives Committee on Health disclosed that 5 wards comprising 150 beds at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) have been shut down following the relocation of doctors and nurses from the Nigerian premier health training institution to different parts of the world.
Chairman of the committee, Dr Amos Magaji, described the situation as worrisomem saying the legislative arm is working toward nipping the increasing rate of Nigerians going abroad for medical tourism in the bud.
He said the Nigeria health workers migration overseas has taken a huge toll on the country’s heath system affirming that “the japa syndrome will be curtail by building state-of-the-art infrastructure and making the sector attractive and rewarding to workers irrespective of their fields.”
Speaking during an oversight visit to LUTH, Idi-Araba, the health committee chairman reiterated that “Nigeria as a nation has found itself in a precarious moment especially in the healthcare system where japa has taken centre stage. We used to have japa only for nurses, doctors, but now it has even gone to many departments in the health sector.
Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Professor Wasiu Adeyemo told the lawmakers that the cancer centre of the university teaching hospital has treated over 9,600
patients since it was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Professor Adeyemo added that citizens of other countries in Europe, Africa and America now visit the centre for treatment and urged Nigerians to patronise the facility just as he commended the federal government and the House of Rep for the supports LUTH enjoys in providing quality healthcare for Nigerians.
