EBOLA: UNILAG PROFESSOR WARNS ‘MASSIVE’ HEALTH WORKER SHORTAGE COULD AFFECT NIGERIA’S RESPONSE

A professor at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Alero Roberts, has warned that Nigeria’s shortage of healthcare workers, particularly nurses, could undermine patient care amid concerns over the recent Ebola case in the country.

The warning was made during an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday.

THE WARNING

Roberts said the government needs to recruit and retain more nurses in health facilities, stressing that hospitals could not provide adequate care merely by having medical equipment and protective supplies without enough personnel to use them.

“We do lack personnel. There is absolutely no doubt about that. We are facing a massive shortage of human resources for health,” Roberts said .

She explained that while doctors are responsible for diagnosing illnesses and medical laboratory scientists confirm diagnoses, nurses play a crucial role in the day-to-day care of patients, particularly those in critical condition.

“And when I say it’s a nursing care problem… We as doctors, we make the diagnosis. The medical lab scientists, they confirm the diagnosis in the laboratory. After that, we need the nurses. We need the nurses because the day-to-day, minute-to-minute care of any patient in a critical situation depends on good nursing care,” she said .

THE INFECTION PREVENTION GAP

Roberts also discussed Nigeria’s preparedness to respond to Ebola, saying health facilities are expected to have infection prevention and control protocols, including access to running water, sanitation, hygiene supplies, gloves, soap and alcohol-based hand rubs.

She said these basic requirements should be available across all levels of healthcare, from primary healthcare centres to general and teaching hospitals and large private hospitals.

However, she said she could not personally confirm that the required supplies were available in every health facility.

“As to whether it is so now, I cannot in all honesty sit here and tell you yes, it is so,” she said .

THE CONTEXT

Her comments come amid concerns over Ebola following the recent case reported in the Federal Capital Territory.

The Federal Government said the virus was detected in a woman in the FCT who returned to Nigeria from Uganda with symptoms of the virus on October 7.

She was said to have been in contact with 44 people, all of whom are under close monitoring.

Roberts noted that the 44 contacts are concerning but not an immediate danger.”So the fact that there are 44 contacts, although that is very concerning, it doesn’t pose an immediate danger to the public if none of those contacts have developed symptoms,” she said .

WHY IT MATTERS

Nigeria’s health system is already stretched. Doctors, nurses and other health workers are overworked and underpaid. Many have left the country for better opportunities abroad.

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If Ebola spreads, the system will be tested to its limits.

And as Roberts warns, equipment alone is not enough.

“You can have a health facility beautifully equipped with all the resources, all the alcohol-based hand rub, all the gloves, all the protective equipment, and there’s no human being to deploy them to the care of the patients,” she said.

The warning is a timely reminder that preparing for Ebola requires not just supplies, but people—trained, supported and adequately staffed.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the FCT is monitoring the 44 contacts. The government has not announced new recruitment measures for health workers.