The National President, Association of General Private Nursing Practitioners of Nigeria, Balogun Ajiboye, has said that the spate of insecurity across the country remains a threat to its members.

Ajiboye stated this on Tuesday at the 13^th Annual National Scientific Conference of the association, in Kaduna State, with the theme, ‘Nursing and Healthcare Space: Strengthening the Relationship to Improve Public Health.’

This was just as he appealed to the government at all levels to be transparent in tackling the insecurity situation in the country.

Besides, he said the current statistics say that over 70 per cent of Nigerians access healthcare through private facilities, noting that less than 30 per cent access healthcare through public facilities.

The national president added that worst hit by the lack of access to healthcare facilities were the poor citizens “who are always coming to private facilities to ask for favour.”

He further said that If nothing was done urgently, universal health coverage in Nigeria would be a mirage.

Ajiboye decried the quackery in the profession, citing one of the recent cases as the death of a music artiste, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, which has brought the profession to ridicule.

He warned members against the dangers of training quacks, saying, “I am using this opportunity to appeal to all agencies involved in the eradication of quackery to stamp out the menace.”

He said, “We all know that it is only the healthy living that can take care of others. So we have to be alive before we can be a nurse.

“Therefore, I want to use this opportunity to strongly appeal to the government at all levels to be more transparent in dealing with the situation on the ground.

“Worst hit are the poor citizens who are always coming to private facilities to ask for favour. We are always trying our best because, with the present economic reality of fuel subsidy removal and deregulation of the currency, you can imagine how the poor citizens are passing through.”

The guest speaker at the event, Prof. Saleh Ngaski, called for collaboration among health professionals in the health space. (The PUNCH)

Update news