BY Sola Ogundipe

PHYSICIANS under the aegis of the West African College of Physicians (Nigerian Chapter) have urged Federal government to take up matters of the health of the people with the deserved level of seriousness, especially from the viewpoint of allocation of funds to the health sector, and implementation of existing and future health-related projects.

The physicians who also called for action on addressing the current shortage of skilled manpower brought about by the spate of brain drain that has enveloped the nation’s health care delivery sector, urged government at all levels to be more involved in the prompt and decisive upgrading of training facilities and initiatives of physicians in the country.

Making the call in Lagos during a courtesy call on the Lagos State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Jide Idris in his office at Alausa, Ikeja, Nigerian Chapter President of the College, Prof Ifeoma Egbuonu, warned that only a critical appraisal of the salient challenges of healthcare delivery could enable the nation attain the Millennium development Goals (MDGs) on health or advance in any developmental capacity.

“Nigeria has not taken it’s health problems seriously and even from the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO), healthcare services in Nigeria are just too expensive,” she stated.

“If the government is serious, they can assess how much we are spending as a nation. They must realise that healthcare is acapital intensive and as such realise the need to provide a conducive environment.”

On the issue of brain drain, Egbuonu who is a paedia trician, avowed that since its inauguration in 1976, as an agency of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), WACP had made specialist training available at reduced cost to address the state of healthcare in Nigeria.