Doctors’ shortage forces LUTH to close down wards, lawmakers to intervene
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Federal lawmakers have again expressed concern over the shortage of healthcare personnel in the country, with news of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) having shut down five wards of 150 beds because several of its doctors have left for greener pastures abroad.
House of Representatives Health Committee Chairman Amos Magaji described the situation as worrisome, saying the legislature is working to stem the rate at which local doctors emigrate and Nigerians go abroad for medical tourism, both of which take a huge toll on the healthcare system.
“The japa [escape] syndrome will be curtailed by building state-of-the-art infrastructure and making the sector attractive and rewarding to workers irrespective of their fields,” Magaji explained during the committee’s oversight visit to LUTH in Idi-Araba, Lagos
“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, and doctors, but now it has even gone to many departments in the health sector.
“We saw significant problems here. Right now, there are about five wards in LUTH, totalling about 150 beds, that have been shut down because there are no nurses and doctors to work in those wards. And these are a result of the japa syndrome we are having.”
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Lawmakers collaborating with govt to stop embarrassment
“As a committee, we will work together with the federal government and also with the teaching hospital to find a way out of these national embarrassments that have befallen this country,” Magaji added, per Vanguard reporting.
“It’s not something that can be fixed in one day, but nevertheless, we are going to be approaching it piecemeal. We are going to do what we can do immediately and what we can do long-term approach to it.
“So, by the grace of God, some of the issues of japa, we are actually looking at how to solve, starting even from the enrolment in universities, and then how house officers are employed, and then of course, the residency programme.
“They have sacrificed so much for Nigerians to be healthy, for us to get proper health care.
“Our hands are on deck, and then that was the reason why if you were here earlier, you discovered that some of the key questions and some of the key things we attended to here were things that have to do with delivering affordable and accessible health care to Nigerians.”
Foreigners receive treatment at LUTH
LUTH Chief Medical Director Professor Wasiu Adeyemo, a professor, told the lawmakers the cancer centre of the hospital has treated more than 9,600 patients since it was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Adeyemo disclosed citizens of other countries in Europe, Africa, and America now visit the centre for treatment and urged Nigerians to patronise the facility.
He commended the federal government and the House of Reps for the support LUTH enjoys in providing quality healthcare for Nigerians.
