Dr Ugochukwu Ugwuanyi, Chief Executive Officer of Wellington Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Abuja, has urged the government to improve working conditions to retain trained doctors and other health professionals in Nigeria.
Ugwuanyi made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the Healthcare Entrepreneurship Expo organised by AfriHealth Development Foundation. He said better working conditions would help reduce the loss of health professionals trained with public funds and encourage more Nigerians working abroad to return and contribute to the country’s healthcare system.
The expo, themed “Healthcare Entrepreneurship: Building a Bankable Health Workforce Through Entrepreneurship and Mentorship”, focused on entrepreneurship, mentorship and sustainability in healthcare delivery.
Ugwuanyi said gaps in Nigeria’s healthcare system could be addressed through private-sector investment and medical entrepreneurship.
He said healthcare entrepreneurs identified gaps in services and committed resources to develop solutions, but faced economic and operational challenges.
According to him, sustaining healthcare services requires substantial human and financial resources, especially amid economic pressures.
He also identified unverified attacks on healthcare institutions on social media as another challenge facing healthcare enterprises.
Ugwuanyi stressed the need for focus, resilience and determination in managing such challenges, while urging entrepreneurs to regularly assess their strengths, weaknesses and external threats.
The neurosurgeon also emphasised the importance of mentorship in developing the next generation of healthcare professionals.
“Mentorship is key because there has to be a constant supply of replacement parts, people that will sustain those services when the older generations fade out,” he said.
Ugwuanyi said Nigeria must address the factors driving young doctors and other health professionals to leave the country after substantial public resources had been invested in their training.
“There’s no point expending a huge chunk of government funds to train doctors and allied healthcare professionals and you don’t create an enabled environment for them to be retained and stay back and serve an expanding population,” he said.
He called for better working conditions to make Nigeria more attractive to health professionals at home and abroad.
Ugwuanyi, who said he trained and worked in England for more than 10 years before returning to Nigeria, described his experience as an example of “reverse japa”.
He expressed optimism that improved conditions would encourage more Nigerian health professionals abroad to return and contribute to the country’s healthcare system.
“Those who have gone out there will come back. And that’s where we’ll start talking about reverse japa syndrome,” he said.
Ugwuanyi advised young medical entrepreneurs to approach healthcare as a long-term commitment rather than a means of making quick money.
He said passion, patience and continuous professional development were essential to building sustainable healthcare enterprises.
“Clinical medicine is very dynamic. Things are changing every day. So you cannot be treating people today with knowledge you acquired 10 years ago,” he said.
He urged practitioners to invest in training, retraining and skills acquisition to keep pace with developments in medical practice.
Ugwuanyi also called for a balance between quality service delivery and fair remuneration for healthcare workers to sustain healthcare businesses and motivate professionals.
He commended the organisers of the expo, saying regular engagements on healthcare entrepreneurship and mentorship would help strengthen healthcare institutions in Nigeria.
