The poor state of Nigeria’s health infrastructure has been attributed to surging brain drain among healthcare providers.
The Director of Social Affairs, African Union Commission, Ambassador Olawale Maiyegun, who disclosed this, bemoaned the rate at which professionals leave the shores of the country.
He said, many Nigerian health officials migrate to other nations at the detriment of their nation, after being trained by the country.
The AU chief revealed this at a briefing held over the weekend on the assessment of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to host the Africa CDC, Regional Collaborating Center.
Maiyegun said Nigeria has the responsibility to provide medical support for her citizens and ensure their wellbeing.
He urged the Federal Government to increase its investment in the health sector, adding that the visit was to determine if Nigeria CDC meets up with the standards set by the AU Commission after it was selected to represent the West African region.
Maiyegun listed the checklists to include government’s commitment, infrastructure, human development and funding.
However, he expressed concerns over infrastructure and hope the government’s commitment would translate to special budgetary allocation to fund programs of the CDC regional office in line with the overall objectives.
According to him, the AU commission, China CDC, US CDC among other development partners, are willing and ready to support the country technically, financially and infrastructure.
He added, “We are satisfied Nigeria can take the responsibility of CDC regional office in the West and as collaborating centre. And on funding, the AU Commission has an existing structure and we will also make use of the Nigeria CDC existing structure which can be improved upon. At interval, the AU will review the operations of the regional CDC offices, so they are expected to meet up with their responsibilities otherwise, they may lose the regional position.”
