The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, expressed concern about the high number of unqualified individuals working in the healthcare industry, stating that these individuals are responsible for the illegal practice of organ harvesting in the country.
Alausa mentioned that the Federal Government plans to introduce new laws to oversee the healthcare industry and prevent unqualified individuals from operating, thus improving the quality of services.
The minister made these comments during a visit to the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, at the Presidential Lodge in the state capital of Abeokuta on Friday.
The minister criticized the situation where untrained individuals are permitted to work in the healthcare field.
He expressed dismay at the high number of unqualified individuals, which leads to serious crimes like organ harvesting.
The minister stated, "We will advocate for new regulations to oversee the healthcare industry, as more than 60 percent of the nation’s healthcare is managed by the private sector without adequate supervision.
“You see hospitals, laboratories, and diagnostic centres being run without anybody checking on what they are doing and these are some of the places where illegal practices like organ harvesting are taking place.
“What we are going to do at the federal level, is to set up a Health Facility Regulatory Commission that will start regulating the standard of health care across the country and we expect the states to set up their regulatory bodies as well.”
Alausa also hinted that the Federal Government is in the process of starting a programme that would increase the production of healthcare providers, starting with the admission of 10,000 medical students every year, while admission for nurses would increase from 28,000 to 68,000, annually.
Providing more details on the Sectoral Approach Programme launched by President Bola Tinubu, the minister explained that one per cent of the consolidated fund was for Basic Health Provision, 55 per cent for Primary Healthcare Centres, and 45 per cent for National Health Insurance, while five per cent goes into Emergency Services.
He said Ogun State has been diligent in managing the Basic Health Provision Funds, which is meant for Primary Healthcare Centres, calling on the governor to adequately monitor the fund to ensure that it is directed to where it was meant for.
Alausa stated that his visit was to see how the federal government would strengthen its relationship with state governments in pushing the President’s mandate to revive, rejig, evaluate, and overhaul the healthcare delivery system for the benefit of Nigerians.
In his remarks, Abiodun said his administration would not hesitate to replicate any Federal Government action aimed at eliminating quackery in the health sector.
“Let me assure you that in terms of the regulation that would allow for tighter regulatory functions over medical practitioners to prevent quackery, we will not hesitate to replicate at the state level.
“We are one of the two states that have put in place a board for alternative medicine because we realized that a lot of our people, especially pregnant women are patronizing traditional birth attendance. We regulate and certify them to ensure we have some form of oversight in their activities,” Abiodun explained.
He was happy that the federal government was considering increasing the number of students in the nation's medical schools to deal with the lack of medical staff in government health facilities. He assured that the state would also take action to train more practitioners for the sector.
Governor Abiodun promised to support President Bola Tinubu's government in reorganizing the health sector. He emphasized the need for adequate health facilities and qualified staff to provide healthcare services to the state's growing population.
