…lauds ATBUTH over scarce resources management
Rauf Oyewole
The House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions has said that it is being disturbed by the doctor-patient ratio, and has expressed readiness to hold a public hearing on the bill declaring a state of emergency on health.
Speaking at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) during an oversight function, the Chairman House Committee on Health Institutions, Hon. Amos Gwamna Magaji, said that if the nation would achieve the World Health Organisation's standard of 1:600 doctor-patient ratio in the next seven years, massive training of doctors should be a priority now.
Magaji said that although many Nigerian doctors who left the country are highly demanded overseas, calling for more training and exportation of locally trained medical practitioners to fill the gaps created.
“We are here to perform our constitutional duty of oversight. We have seen what the Hospital is doing with the little funds it is getting. This is one of the best hospitals. We have gone round to see the projects they are doing. These are fantastic jobs the management is doing.
“You can imagine that they are conducting surgery on kidney stones at the rate of N1million. Going outside the country, I'm very sure you can not get flight tickets of one million naira. I keep saying that we have more qualified medical doctors in Nigeria and we have no reason to waste resources on foreign medical tourism,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Yusuf Bara Jibrin appealed to the lawmakers for intervention in the area of power service, saying that the hospital energy bill runs to about N50m monthly. He also called on the government to address the shortage of medical personnel to deliver more efficiently.
0 Comments