Over 75,000 nurses, midwives left Nigeria in five years 

• Association Decries Lack Of Social Protection, Inadequate Compensation
No fewer than 75,000 nurses and midwives migrated from Nigeria in the last five years as a result of poor wages, and lack of decent work environments.

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), also decried lack of social protection, insurance, and inadequate compensation, and other incentives for nurses and midwives in the country.

Speaking at the flag-off of the 2023 International Nurses Day (IND), yesterday, in Abuja, its National President, Michael Ekuma Nnachi , said the profession was facing several challenges.

Nnachi lamented that “nurses work in high-stress environments, which can lead to burnout, poor service delivery, higher morbidity and mortality rates, and even mental challenges. ”

He also decried the deplorable state of infrastructure and lack of modem equipment and tools, which could affect their output.

Also speaking, the second Vice president of the association, Israel Blessing, said that recent statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO)  revealed that Nigeria accounted for over 34 per cent of global maternal deaths, while the lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, or after an abortion for a Nigerian woman is one in 22, compared to one in 4,900 in developed countries.

She noted that to address this, every pregnant woman should have access to a well-trained, caring midwife. By this, we would be much closer to a world where every childbirth is safe.

Blessing said, “According to the UNFPA report, the world is short of 900,000 of these essential service providers if this deficit is fixed, it could prevent two-thirds of the maternal and newborn death thereby saving more than 4.3 million lives a year by 2035”Midwives should be fully integrated into healthcare systems in the interest of improved maternal and child health in Nigeria”. .