Resident doctors decry inadequate medical equipment in health sector

The Association of Resident Doctors, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (ARD-UATH), has called on government at all levels to please equip all medical facilities in the country with the 21st century equipment.

The doctors made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the opening session of the 2021 Health Week and Annual General Meeting (AGM).The doctors particularly directed their calls to the Federal Government, saying that inadequate medical facilities in all government hospitals is having a part in brain drain currently witnessing on the sector.Dr Amen Abdul, President, ARD-UATH, who is also from the Department of Internal medicine, stated that the current facilities the doctors are practising with are all outdated.

He said that the equipment were no longer performing as expected, and that there is the need for a total replacement of all facilities to enable the doctors perform optimally.“We practice in an environment where facilities are almost outdated, we practice where our patients cannot even afford healthcare.“Government needs to make the environment more conducive for us, it needs to bring out policies that will encourage the average doctor to practice well.

“We practice in an economy where we hardly have time to do other things, we also do not have money to take care of a lot of things that bothers us,” he stressed.Dr Abah Robert, the immediate past president of the association, urged the government to make sophisticated equipment available for the doctors, adding that, it is only in Nigeria that doctors improvise for patients.

He also called for good training for doctors that would devoid of complexity and complications, and that this would encourage doctors to put in their best and continue to work.Roberts called for good remuneration for doctors, noting that doctors have a lot of responsibility to take care of, especially at the home front.He also called on the government to limit the bureaucratic bottleneck doctors usually come across while discharging their duties, adding that, it slows down the professional work of the doctors.He added that bureaucratic syndrome had made so many doctors to leave the profession for other jobs.According to Robert, “a lot of doctors have taken medical practice to be a vocation and a way of life, and that it must be accorded the respect it deserved.

Dr Onyewere Vivian, the Vice President of the association who is also a Senior Registrar at the teaching hospital, also pleaded with government to improve doctors’ welfare.She said that many doctors are leaving the shore of the country because of poor welfare, saying that the situation is now worrisome.Dr Funke Lawson, the keynote speaker at the event, who was also a consultant paediatrician, Zankli Medical Hospital, Abuja, reiterated the need to do more for doctors to discouraged brain drain. 

According to her, doctors’ working condition in various hospitals must be improved to help them perform optimally. She said that the doctors also require training, and the need to upgrade their equipment. Lawson said that the insecurity situation of the country, high rate of inflation and kidnapping among the things have discouraged doctors from staying back in the country.   

The health week will continue on Thursday, Dec. 16, with Annual General Meeting (AGM), Jumat prayer on Friday and Sport activities and variety night on Saturday. (NAN)