WE HAVE 4,500 SPACES FOR 4,000 HOUSE DOCTORS – HEALTH MINISTER

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has suggested that medical students who must proceed on houseman-ship as part of their training should not have any problem with placement.

The minister spoke at the Senate Plenary on Tuesday before the Committee of the Whole as he was summoned to explain the reasons for the poor state of healthcare infrastructure all over the country.

Senators had taken turns to ask the minister questions about the matter, and he had volunteered his answers.

One of such questions was raised by Senator Sam Egwu (PDP-Ebonyi North), who had asked the minister, “The area that worries me is that of the medical students who graduate from medical schools and have nowhere to do their houseman-ship. How do we make sure our medical students always get where to practice?”

Adewole replied, “We recognise the houseman-ship problem. The lifespan of the provisional license is two years. If after two years they do not get placement it will lapse. That is why we started central placement.

“We have 4,500 spaces and we produce about 4,000 house doctors every year. I’ve made a plea that if anyone of them has a problem with placement, they should contact us with the provision that they are not asking for placement in Lagos or Abuja.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Adewole has condemned what he described as the “uncontrolled manner” in which state governments have been erecting heath facilities in their respective domains.

“With respect to uncompleted buildings, the challenge we have is the uncontrolled manner in which we are putting up health institutions. People will wake up, start a building and call it a health facility.

“If we are not brought into it and you complete it, it will not work. Health institutions are not easy to manage; that is why the states are finding it difficult.

“My advice is to let us stop building new structures. At the last count, we had 30,000 places all over the country; what we want to do is make 10,000 work.

“If we have 10,000 working, we would reach 10,000 people in each ward, which would be a 100 million people. That would be a major feat.”

The minister warned that if state governments don’t heed his advice, “the FG would take over all health care infrastructures in Nigeria.”

He counselled the states to have a tertiary hospital and a general hospital in each local government.

Adewole also faulted the assertion that the nation’s tertiary hospitals don’t have enough specialists to treat patients.

“Our teaching hospitals are not lacking trained personnel. Where we have problems is with the states.

“The solution is for the states to engage people,” he declared.