Akwa Ibom NMA Warns Of Doctor Shortage, Seeks Seven Medical Schools

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Akwa Ibom State chapter, has expressed concern over the shortage of medical professionals in the state, urging the government to establish more medical training institutions to address the growing workforce deficit.

Speaking during a press briefing in Uyo ahead of the association’s Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference, the NMA Chairman, Prof. Aniekan Peter, called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to establish at least seven medical training institutions to strengthen the healthcare sector.

Prof. Peter lamented that the state has consistently struggled to fill approved positions for healthcare workers, despite efforts to recruit more personnel.

“If there are vacancies for 100,000 teachers in the state, I’m sure you will find them immediately, but recently the State governor, Umo Eno, approved employment for 400 doctors and we couldn’t get them. It means that there’s something wrong somewhere.

“We were looking for 700 nurses for the first time, and we couldn’t get them until we relaxed some of the criteria before we were able to get the number. So it’s time as a people to begin to refocus, and that’s why our AGM is all about: Refocusing our attention for the future of health care for Akwa Ibom,” Peter said.

He stressed that the government must begin to view medical education as a long-term investment that will improve healthcare delivery across the state.

Commending Governor Umo Eno for approving the establishment of a medical school at Akwa Ibom State University, Peter described the move as a positive step but said more needed to be done to meet the state’s healthcare demands.

“We appreciate the governor for the approval granted to the Akwa Ibom State University to start doing medicine and other medical courses. But for Akwa Ibom State, that is one over four; it’s still a failure, just 25%. So we thank the governor for opening the first medical school in the state; other states like Delta already had four,” he said.

He further argued that expanding medical education would not only address the shortage of doctors but also create opportunities for students interested in other healthcare professions.

“Medicine is no more a course; it’s an empowerment, and any state or country that doesn’t recognize this will not get it right. If Akwa Ibom wants to be one of the states to be reckoned with, we must see medical education as an empowerment; we must have at least seven medical schools in this state.

“So that any of our children that wants to read medicine or surgery can have admission and the number that want to be nurses, physiotherapists will not be a problem, and by God’s grace we can do it,” he added.

Peter also noted that several existing healthcare facilities across the state could be upgraded into medical training institutions.

“We have our general hospital at Ikot Ekpene that can be a focus of a university; we have our general hospital at Eket that can be another focus of another university. We can even train them in different medical centres; we have the Ibom Specialist Hospital that can stand alone as a university,” he said.