The Intensive and Critical Care Society of Nigeria has called for dedicated intervention funds for Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in public hospitals to meet the increasing demands for services for the sickest patients.

The Society also demanded the inclusion of critical care in the National Health Insurance Scheme, considering the high financial burden of critical care on Nigerian patients.

The Society also emphasised the need to classify and stratify intensive care units in public and private hospitals in Nigeria based on facilities and workforce for the safety of patients.

The Society came up with these resolutions and demands in a communique issued at the end of its 10th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting it held recently.

The Conference, themed: *Cardiac critical care*, and sub-themed: *Cost of ICU treatment in Nigeria, haemodynamic monitoring and workforce challenges in critical care*, also trained members on improved skills for better patient care.

The communique, signed by the Society’s outgoing President, Prof. Babatunde Babasola Osinaike, and Secretary, Dr. Irene Akhedeno, noted that with a population of over 200 million people in the country, there is a need for structured training programmes in critical care medicine in the nation’s medical schools and postgraduate colleges to boost workforce growth and improve care.

The communique noted that the Society would be willing to offer inputs on matters affecting the training and equipping of ICUs across the country for effective utilisation and adequate service delivery.

The communique also stressed the need for regionalisation of the ICU centres of excellence in each geopolitical zone in the country.

The communique read, “In a bid to reduce internal and external brain drain among ICU workforce, retention strategies will suffice by way of incentives and support systems.”

At the end of the AGM, the following critical care physicians were elected to shoulder the responsibilities of the Society for the next two years.

The Guest Speaker, an accomplished cardiac surgeon in the United States of America, Dr. Jonathan Nwiloh, emphasised the relevance of early recognition of critical illness and referral for prompt care, teamwork, and institutional culture for patient safety as drivers of improved care of the critically ill.

Other speakers included Professor Benjamin Anyanwu of Regions Hospital, Owerri, and Professor Aniola Sanusi, also of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, who discussed the cost of ICU care in private and public hospitals, respectively.

There was also Dr. Bassey Udom O., a cardiac anaesthetist in the United Kingdom and Babcock University Teaching Hospitals, Ilishan, who enlightened the audience on haemodynamic monitoring in critically ill patients. Prof. Kingsley Tobi of the University of Rwanda charted the paths for workforce challenges in critical care with emphasis on training.

Participants adjudged the workshop to be beneficial as it provided a platform to improve skills for better patient care. In attendance were intensive care practitioners across the country, including Major General (Prof.) Obashina Ogunbiyi, MNI (rtd), and Dr. Aniola Sanusi, both former Presidents of ICCSN, and students.

At the end of the AGM, new executives were elected to shoulder the responsibilities of the Society for the next two years. They include: President, Dr. Job Gogo Otokwala; Vice President, Dr. Irene Akhedeno; Secretary General, Dr. Paul Ufoegbunam, amongst others.

Photo: The new President of Intensive and Critical Care Society of Nigeria, Dr. Job Gogo Otokwala.