The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State Chapter, Dr. Babajide Saheed, has called on the government to increase the remuneration of health workers in the country, including other benefits, as this would help alleviate the shortage of medical doctors in the health sector.

The chairman explained that increasing remuneration would also help to deter the number of Nigerian medical doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who travel abroad to practice their profession for better opportunities.

The chairman announced this on Friday at the Nigerian Association of Dermatologists (NAD) 19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Scientific Conference titled “Dermatology and Global Health: Bridging the Gap,” held at the Sickle Cell Centre, Idi-Araba, Lagos, adding that the government should increase the salaries of health workers in line with the current inflation in the country.

He said the government should reduce the taxes imposed on health workers, adding that if 40 per cent of their salary is not deducted due to taxes, their take-home pay will be significantly higher.

The chairman noted there is also a need for the government to introduce housing and car loans for health workers. “If housing and cars could be provided to health workers, 50 per cent of their problems would be alleviated. If the government could replace health workers’ cars every five or six years, it would go a long way in solving their issues.”

He said another important factor is the training and retraining of health workers to improve their capacity. Including adequate infrastructure and good policies in the health sector would significantly reduce medical tourism in the country. “The recent developments in the country concerning medical tourism are a shame to the nation.”

One of the organisers of the event, a dermatologist at the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and Chairman of the local organising committee, Dr. Ayesha Akinkugbe, said the programme aimed to train health workers on task sharing and shifting to improve dermatological care. She added that those trained included general practitioners, medical officers, aesthetic doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and community health workers, among others.

She said the skin is the largest organ in the body; therefore, there is no health without skin health. “People should take good care of their skin by eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, avoiding smoking, and using skin products that could be dangerous to the skin, as what affects the skin equally affects the inner body,” she said.

The dermatologist stated that the event was also meant to observe World Skin Health Day, creating awareness and equipping trained health workers with the knowledge to easily identify common skin conditions, as patients often present to them before consulting dermatologists. “This would help the trained health workers to institute the right treatment for patients with skin disease”.

Seyi Badmus, a Registered Nurse at the Massey Street Children’s Hospital, Lagos Island, Lagos, stated that children often face numerous skin health issues, and sometimes parents overlook these health challenges in their children.

He lamented that those parents are ignorant of the causes of skin problems, which is why it is essential to create awareness about children’s skin issues, which can be caused by fungi, bacteria, and other factors. “There is a need to educate parents about the skin health of their children, as we all know that children have low immunity,” he said.