The Intensive and Critical Care Society of Nigeria (ICCSN) 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 communiqué 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 communiqué, 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.

It noted that the society would be willing to offer inputs on matters affecting training, and equipping of ICUs across the country for effective utilisation and adequate service delivery. The communiqué also stressed the need for regionalisation of the ICU centres of excellence in each geopolitical zone in the country.