The Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) has criticized the call on the Federal Government to privatize tertiary healthcare centres in the country.
According toThe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Dr Ojinmah Uche, President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had on July 24, asked the Federal Government to privatize all tertiary healthcare centres in the country.
Uche advised that the move would ensure effective service delivery and help reduce mass migration of doctors to foreign land.
The NUAHP President, Mr Ibrahim Kamal, while speaking described the call at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, as “unfortunate and insensitive”.
On his part, privatizing tertiary health institutions will only aggravate the problem of access to tertiary healthcare services in the country, particularly by common citizens.
He said that Nigerians have the right to unhindered access to healthcare services, as a social service being provided by the government as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
Kamal said that NUAHP has rejected the call, adding that there was no evidence to prove that privatizing tertiary healthcare facilities would, overtime, address the challenge of brain drain.
“The major challenges affecting the health sector are inadequate funding and poor management of public health institutions among others.
“If the above issues are addressed, there will be significant improvement in the quality of service delivery in health centres, including tertiary health facilities,” he stated.
NUAHP’s President appealed to Bola Tinubu to dismiss the call and instead, declare a state of emergency in the health sector to address the challenge of brain drain.
