The Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State Chapter, has attributed the gross inefficiency in the health sector, especially in government owned hospitals to limited budget allocation to health, which he described as below the recommended international standard.
The NMA chairman, Dr Olumuyiwa Odusote, citing the allocation to health in the proposed 2018 budget, which was fixed at 3.9 percent, said it was less than the WHO -recommended 15 percent.
He noted that this explains the mass departure of medical doctors from government hospitals to greener pastures abroad, where they are well catered for.
According to the words of Odusote in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria, “Over 100 doctors have resigned from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, this year, and about 800 doctors resigned from Lagos State hospitals in the last two years, and over 50 in November alone”.
He further lamented the poor state of the health sector saying “our healthcare system has been neglected for an extended period, evidenced by lack of funding, under- supply, inefficiency, decrepit equipment, poor quality, needless deaths and unhappy workforce”.
Still decrying the shameful sites in many general hospitals, with the exception of Lagos, are not in good condition and are breeding grounds for infectious diseases. Many also do not have sufficient beds; so, corridors are turned to sleeping wards, he said.
He however advocated for increased number of public health centres, fully equipped with adequate drugs and modern facilities and manned by specialists.
