Says adequate funding of health research will reduce migration of medical practitioners
The outgoing Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Healthcare Services, Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu, has said that Nigeria has the capacity to compete with the Harvard University in attracting grants for research but what is lacking is a strong institution that can fund health research and provide local solutions to health challenges in the country.
He argued that adequate funding of health will help reduce the migration of medical practitioners and also strengthen the nation’s health system.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ meeting organized by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) on the establishment of MRC/HRC in Nigeria, Sununu, noted that Nigeria cannot have a strong institution for research when it does not have the enabling act to back it up, stressing that country can generate billions of Naira through the medical research council. (MRC)
He stressed the need to transform the NIMR into a medical research council to make it more effective and to coordinate research funding in the country and provide local solutions to health challenges.
The lawmaker stated that the research world is now a barging ground and a multi billion naira investment. According to him, that alone can attract so much money for national development.
Sununu said: “We tried to create an avenue for inter agency collaboration so that NIMR, NAFDAC, and other associations can also share and exchange skills and experiences and with that, we believe that manpower will be addressed and capacity will be built for both institutions.
“It is also open to wealthy individuals within the country. We have research foundation that is being spearheaded by the immediate past minister of works, all this are issues that we try as much as possible to give them legal basis so that we can not be challenged in court questioning our actions which I think is a good moment.
Adding: “When we came in we met NAFDAC with the issue of budgeting but we have addressed that and we also made NAFDAC move from maturity level 1 to 2 but as today, they have been confirmed to be at maturity level 3 and we are working closely. Very soon the assessment is coming to move NAFDAC to achieve maturity level 4. To achieve that, we have also succeeded in amending both the NAFDAC establishment act and also together with the Nigerian research council waiting for the assent of the president.”
Also speaking, Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Babatunde Salako, stated that establishment of a Medical Research Council (MRC) will help the country to solve local health challenges and also address funding challenges restricting research in the country.
He observed that globally, medical research council funds medical research and the advantage is that countries, where they exist, can actually focus on the variance of health challenges that are affecting the people and providing solutions.
Salako, who noted that health research contributes immensely to human development worldwide; said: “If you take care of health, you have probably taken care of all SDG indices because health is central to them.
“A nation with good health and high life expectancy is likely to have a good healthy workforce that will build and improve the economy.”
