Nigeria Experiencing Internal Brain Drain – Ehanire …Launches Project For Manpower Gaps In PHCs

Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has disclosed that Nigeria’s health care system was also experiencing internal brain drain as health care workers are massively migrating from rural communities to urban centres for, perhaps, better life and work experience.
The Minister, who spoke at the launch of the Community-based Health Research, Innovative Training and Services Programme (CRISP) in Abuja, on Monday, confirmed the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in rural communities are most affected by the increasing dearth of manpower, which has resulted in poor quality of service at the PHCs.
He, however, expressed optimism that the CRISP initiative will herald significant improvement in manpower in the PHCs, and also reflected in the quality of health care service being delivered at the PHCs.
“Nigeria is facing the challenges of gross inadequacy and inequity in the availability of human resource for health especially skilled birth attendants, notably, doctors, nurses, midwives, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs)) trained on modified life saving skills across PHC facilities.
“Working in PHCs have remained unattractive to most skilled workers. They prefer to provide services in the urban centres. So, aside from problem of gross inadequacy and inequitable distribution of skilled health care workers, we are also facing the problem of detrition from the PHC facilities.
“With this kind of situation, no matter how much you invest in building and equipping a health care facility, if there are no skilled workers to provide the needed services, it is as good as there are no health care services for the people”, he said.
Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, in his presentation, explained that CRISP initiative was one of the ways of achieving the first of interrelated four-point agenda on PHC transformation in Nigeria.Minister of Health, Dr.
Osagie Ehanire, has disclosed that Nigeria’s health care system was also experiencing internal brain drain as health care workers are massively migrating from rural communities to urban centres for, perhaps, better life and work experience.
The Minister, who spoke at the launch of the Community-based Health Research, Innovative Training and Services Programme (CRISP) in Abuja, on Monday, confirmed the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in rural communities are most affected by the increasing dearth of manpower, which has resulted in poor quality of service at the PHCs.
He, however, expressed optimism that the CRISP initiative will herald significant improvement in manpower in the PHCs, and also reflected in the quality of health care service being delivered at the PHCs.
“Nigeria is facing the challenges of gross inadequacy and inequity in the availability of human resource for health especially skilled birth attendants, notably, doctors, nurses, midwives, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs)) trained on modified life saving skills across PHC facilities.
“Working in PHCs have remained unattractive to most skilled workers. They prefer to provide services in the urban centres. So, aside from problem of gross inadequacy and inequitable distribution of skilled health care workers, we are also facing the problem of detrition from the PHC facilities.
“With this kind of situation, no matter how much you invest in building and equipping a health care facility, if there are no skilled workers to provide the needed services, it is as good as there are no health care services for the people”, he said.
Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, in his presentation, explained that CRISP initiative was one of the ways of achieving the first of interrelated four-point agenda on PHC transformation in Nigeria.