NMA: Shortage Of Protective Equipment Due To Poor Funding For Health

The president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Francis Faduyile , has blamed Nigeria’s lack of preparedness for health emergency on poor funding of the health sector.

There are rising concerns over shortages of protective equipments needed by health workers who are in the front line of the battle against the COVID-19.

The shortages have led to reuse of some disposable protective equipments like the Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) thereby exposing health workers to high risk.

Speaking on the reason for shortages of medical equipments needed by health personnel to battle the pandemic, Faduyile told Aljazeera on Sunday that the highest percentage of the budget allocated to the health sector was 6%, against the 15% agreed by leaders in the continent.

He said that the poor funding would not allow local manufacturers to produce these equipments and break-even, especially during this period of emergency, hence the country had to rely on foreign suppliers especially China for PPEs.

According to him, “I will say for Africa it is lack of preparation that has put us in this major difficulty we have found our selves. For Nigeria in particular, we the health practitioners have been complaining that the amount budgeted for health has been too meagre.

“Whereas African heads met in 2001 in Abuja and they agreed that a minimum of 15% will be budgeted for health so that they can have a sustainable health system. I can tell you Nigeria has not gotten anywhere close to 15 per cent since 2001. The highest we have gotten was 6%.

“This has put the health sector in perennial underfunding and because we don’t have enough fund in the health system, some of the industries that are expected to be servicing the health sector to produce things like mask, syringes, gloves are not going to break- even if they are produced locally and this became very obvious when there was emergency.”

He further explained that Africa in general lacked local industries producing medical consumables and had to rely on imports outside the continent, where the suppliers also have to meet local demands before exporting.

Faduyile said that on the status of using nose masks in Nigeria, the federal government has not made it mandatory for the wearing of the mask, but local industries had stepped up to produce different kinds of nose masks to cover for the shortages.