Health Matters Across Nigeria (August Edition)

Dear Readers,

As Nigeria joined the rest of the world in August to fight against the rampaging Mpox disease and other infectious diseases such as Cholera and Diphtheria, medical doctors called public attention to the insecurity in their workplaces, particularly the whereabouts of their colleague, Ganiyat Popoola, for more than eight months.

Mrs Popoola, a resident doctor at the National Eye Centre in Kaduna, north-west Nigeria, was abducted on 27 December 2023 alongside her husband and nephew.

While her husband was released after a ransom was reportedly paid, Mrs Popoola and her nephew have remained in captivity.

Apart from staging a peaceful walk across its branches nationwide, the medical practitioners under the umbrella of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) also embarked on a weeklong warning strike to press home their demand for the release of their abducted colleague.

The federal government confirmed that Mrs Popoola was still alive in the custody of her captors and pledged the commitment of security operatives to ensure her safe return.

However, after failing to convince the doctors to suspend their warning strike, the government threatened to invoke the “no work, no pay” rule, saying that leaving their duty posts would endanger more lives.

Medical students’ abduction

As if to further confirm the fear of the doctors, while the protests were still ongoing, kidnappers struck again, abducting 20 medical students of the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri, who were on a trip to Enugu, south-east Nigeria, to participate in the annual convention of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students.

The students’ release was only secured after more than a week in captivity.

The development further heightened the fear of medical practitioners in the country, who claimed that such incidents justified the exodus of many of their colleagues abroad.

New policy against ‘japa’

Meanwhile, the government announced a new policy titled “National Policy on Health Workforce Migration” to address the health sector’s workforce challenges.

According to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, the initiative aims to tackle “the critical challenges facing the country’s health human resources, aiming to manage, harness, and reverse the migration of healthcare professionals.”

Sharing the news on his X handle, Mr Pate wrote: “This policy is more than just a response to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals; it’s a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health worker migration. It envisions a thriving workforce that is well-supported, adequately rewarded, and optimally utilised to meet the healthcare needs of all Nigerians”.

The minister said 67 per cent of Nigerian medical doctors who travelled abroad work in the United Kingdom.

He said the UK may face difficulty should Nigerian healthcare workers in her employ decide to leave.

War against Mpox

Also in August, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Mpox a continental and global health emergency, respectively.

Africa CDC said the number of cases in the continent was increasing, showing a concerning upward trend. “Furthermore, the case fatality rate is higher than expected, ranging between 3 per cent and 4 per cent, and that it may be linked to immune deficiency due to HIV,” the continental body said at the time.

Earlier, before the declaration by WHO and Africa CDC, the Nigerian government had announced the reintroduction of health declaration forms for travellers arriving in the country. Before the form was reintroduced, Nigeria had recorded 24 cases.

According to the country’s health ministry, “the form is an instituted measure to prevent the spread, monitor the possible importation of infectious diseases and aid the control of disease outbreaks, thereby protecting the health of all Nigerians.”

Health centres’ revitalisation

In an effort to improve health care in the rural areas, the Nigerian government in August announced that a total of 500 Village Health Centres (VHCs) had been revitalised with the hope that additional 3,000 would be touched within a year.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Muyi Aina, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ engagement organised by the Nigeria Universal Healthcare Forum in collaboration with Options Consultancy Services.

Superbugs, Fat-filled powder

Earlier in the month, PREMIUM TIMES co-published a special report on the challenges antibiotic resistance posed to many Nigerians, citing cases of neonatal sepsis in both Nigeria and Ethiopia, among other nations.

This newspaper also published an investigation exposing the importation of fat-filled milk powder into the country from Europe and their consumption by unsuspecting Nigerians who mistake them for whole-milk powder because the labels don’t reveal what they truly are.

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The development jolted the country’s regulatory agency- the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) – to issue a statement in defence of her role but sidestepped major concerns raised in the report.