TheCable

Stakeholders in the health sector have asked governorship candidates in Lagos state to address healthcare financing, anti-quackery laws, among other such issues in their policy documents. 

The call was made on Wednesday at an event organised by the Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL).

The event was in collaboration with the UHC 2023 forum, Lagos state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), and Lagos State Civil Society Partnership (LASCOP).

The event themed, ‘Putting Health and Health Security on the Political Front-burner in Lagos State’, was to engage with political party leaders and gubernatorial candidates in Lagos.

Garfa Alawode, project director of, Prevent Epidemic Project, said the meeting was to encourage candidates to prioritise health in their development agenda. 

“This engagement helps us to deepen the understanding of the political class and other stakeholders on the health security gaps and acquaint them with available strategic policy options for strengthening the health and health security legal, policy, and financing landscape in Lagos state,” he said. 

“We also seek to encourage the candidates and obtain commitments from them towards enhanced prioritisation of health and health security in government spending, among other things.”

Speaking on the challenges in the healthcare industry, Sa’eid Ahmad, chairperson, Medical Guild, Lagos state, said governorship candidates in the state must prioritise healthcare financing, adding that budgetary allocation to health must meet the World Health Organisation’s minimum of 15 percent.

“Lagos, among other states in the federation, has stood out in the aspect of providing essential provisions in the health sector. However, it is not enough,” he said.

“Rather than spend this budget on constructing new health institutions, existing ones should be upgraded with emphasis on medical human resources retention strategies.

“Political leadership of Lagos state needs to ensure an upward review of health workers’ hazard allowance, which has remained N5,000 for more than 30 years.”

Ahmad also mentioned other healthcare challenges that need to be addresed such as; human resource management, facility regulation, poor definition of state government’s roles in facility finance, alternative/traditional medicine status, and absence of definite anti-quackery law.

On his part,  Benjamin Olowojebutu, chairperson, NMA Lagos, said the major issue faced in the country’s health sector is brain drain, adding that over 1,800 healthcare workers left the country in December 2022.

“There is a very big challenge about brain drain. I have said several times that we have to be very deliberate about how we tackle this. There is a pull-and-push syndrome that is affecting doctors leaving Lagos,” he said.

“Before, we used to have young doctors traveling abroad for greener pastures. But now, even the consultants that are supposed to be training the young doctors are leaving the country.

“There is a dearth of doctors in Nigeria, especially in Lagos state. Some places don’t have specialties anymore because the specialists have left the country at this time.

“We need to think of how to make healthcare attractive and sustainable.”

Olowojebutu, therefore, urged the government to “critically treat the issue as an emergency” and solve the problem.