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From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
In line with its annual tradition, the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State has observed its 2021 health week.
The weeklong programme with the theme: Healthcare Service Delivery In The Post Covid Era witnessed presentation of lectures by distinguished medical personnel on the theme and sub-theme which was centered on brain drain in the medical industry and the way forward.
In his valedictory speech, Dr Golibe Ikpeze appreciated the hospital management, particularly the Chief Medical Director, Dr Joseph Ugboaja who he described as being supportive to the association. He noted that Dr Ugboaja had accommodated the ARD in his mission and vision for the NAUTH.
Dr Ikpeze enumerated some achievements of the ARD, NAUTH under his watch within one year including satisfying the welfare needs of ARD’s members and expected that an incoming administration would achieve more. He thanked his members for allowing him to serve them within the period of 2020/2021 as their president.
In his presentation on the main theme of the event, Deputy Chairman, Medical Adversory Committee (DCMAC), Dr Ogo Ezejiofor who was a guest speaker said that the Covid-19 era had not gone since people were still masking.
He said that Nigeria could count itself lucky since the effect of the pandemic in the country had not been as devastating as it had been in other climes. He described it as an unprecedented global health emergency.
After a statistical representation of the effect of Covid-19 in terms of casualties and cases according to a survey, Dr Ezejiofor said that the pandemic had overstretched the healthcare delivery system across many countries of the world leading to global deaths increase.
“Many countries now focus on Covid-19 and high demand for consumables leading to neglect of other health issues. Many patients in some hospitals find it difficult to access healthcare and this has even affected the control of other diseases including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
“The outbreak of the Covid-19 exposed the situation that there is no healthcare emergency preparedness in Nigeria. Many hospitals were ill-equipped and ill-funded. There was no existence of well equipped isolation centers and no team system in healthcare delivery. There were paucity of certain specialists and non-availability of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in many hospitals. These were some of the things the outbreak of the pandemic exposed, ” Dr Ezejiofor noted.
He said the way forward would be to strengthen the healthcare system through funding and making available the needed facilities.
He said there was need to invest in training, infrastructure and activation of functional systems in tertiary health institutions.
“In NAUTH today the Chief Medical Director, Dr Joseph Ugboaja has introduced a lot of changes to make the health institution one of the five top tertiary health institutions in Nigeria and perhaps Sub-Sahara Africa.
“Under the new administration, NAUTH has a state-of-the-art molecular laboratory and isolation center at the permanent site to take care of Covid-19, lassar fever and other diseases ; expanded and renovated Accident and Emergency unit with automated facilities; newly equipped and expanded ICU currently 20 bedded; modern dialysis center with eight new machines to be abreast of what is happening and a whole lot of infrastructural development ongoing, ” the DCMAC said.
In his lecture on the sub-theme, the Provost, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Professor Gerald Udigwe named such factors as bad leadership, unstable political climate, high crime rate, lack of social justice, corruption and under utilization of skills as some of the causes of brain drain in any country.
To remedy the situation, Dr Udigwe said governement had to reduce corruption, invest in education and healthcare, pay living wage and give incentives to doctors.
One of the highpoints of the opening ceremony was the unveiling of a medical journal called Afrimedic.
