The National Hospital Abuja and four private institutions; Nile University, Cosmopolitan University, Yangongwo College of Nursing Sciences and, Concerned Medix Foundation, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance capacity of healthcare workers in the country.
Coordinating Minister of Health & Social Welfare Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate who spoke during the signing ceremony, noted that it aligns with the policy of the present administration to expand training capacities in the country.
According to him, it was a testament of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to expand training of health workers, fill the gaps created by those who left and, sticking to maintaining standards through the Regulatory and Professional Schools Division of Hospital Services Department of the Ministry.
While noting that government has a duty to provide solutions to multitude of challenges, whether it was infrastructure, equipment or human capital development, Pate stressed that Nigerian health workers were attractive to other countries because they were well trained in-country.
He said: ” Thankfully, because they are well-trained and, we are very proud of them. If we weren’t training them, they wouldn’t have been attractive to other countries.
“Unfortunately, that has implications on the service delivery at home. So as a government, we took a progressive stance to say, look, let’s train more.
“So that even if those who are trained leave, some will stay. And even those who have gone away might come back to serve. And, that is the driving force behind this policy approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Speaking further, the minister highlighted the critical importance of the private sector to achieving government’s objective, given the mixed system in the health sector which comprises of public and private facilities and institutions
“So, the private sector has a space, and I am very pleased that you have joined hands with with the National Hospital to be able to really see how the capabilities of the hospital can help you train more of the clinicians.”
Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital Prof. Raji Mahmud who commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s priority attention for improving the healthcare system, said the collaboration and MoU between the National Hospital Abuja and private institutions would increase healthcare workforce training exponentially.
Prof. Mahmud explained that three out of the four institutions were mainly training institutions to train medical students and nurses alongside the National Hospital, Abuja.
