Why FG should not privatise healthcare institutions in Nigeria – Nurses

Nurses and Midwives in Nigeria have appealed to the Federal Government to shelve plans to privatise public health institutions in the country.

They said that failure to stop the proposed privatisation exercise will multiply the problems in the health sector.

Speaking on behalf of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), President of the group, Comrade Abdulrafiu Adeniji, told DAILYPOST that there are plots by top officials in the Health Ministry working with heads of the various institutions slated for the privatisation exercise to ensure their cronies and allies buy up the public health asset for next to nothing.

He also said there are no guarantee that other forms of corruption will not come into play during the privatisation exercise; adding that donor agencies will be skeptical about funding privately-owned health interventions.

He said: “It is interesting to note how the proposed privatisation of the sector, which proponents say guarantees efficiency in service delivery because of profit-motive and competition, will foster the corruption that has already eaten deep into the meagre funds coming from the budget line and the donations from NGOs.

“It is a known fact that privatisation will worsen the woes of poor financing in the sector as donors will lose interest in releasing more funds for health services to many.

“Privatisation is another attempt to give to family members and cronies of health administrators the investments government has made in the sector in exchange for peanuts. The privatisation of the power and the multiplication of the problems in that sector should serve as a ready example for all.”

Adeniji further decried the display of administrative monopoly by doctors in public health institutions.

He noted that the present administrative structure in the sector which concentrates power in the hands of medical doctors alone was seriously affecting the efficiency of the country’s health systems.

His words: “the health sector is a multidisciplinary industry; consisting of diverse professions. But the medical doctors alone are allowed to assume administrative roles within the system, and they have proved unwilling to accept management input from other professionals.

“This has largely affected health policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. In fact, goodwill among the health workforce has been destroyed leading to the recurrent industrial disharmony experienced in the sector.”

He however urged saddled with the administrative responsibilities in public hospitals to practice prudent management of resourcesat their disposal.

On the issue of government attention to health sector, leader of the umbrella body ofnurses and midwives said: “President Muhammadu Buhari has good intentions for the health sector but lamented that those intentions have not been adequately translated into workable action plans for the betterment of citizens.

“Good intentions for the health sector have been expressed by the Presidency. But, it’s unfortunate that even those within the same ,political party as the President are not doing his will.

“Why can’t the Minister of Health facilitate a meeting of the leaders of all the health professionals with the President or the Vice-President for serious engagement on how to surmount the challenges facing the sector?” The NANNM President queried.