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Female residents of Ikorodu in Lagos State, including expectant mothers, have appealed to the state government to recruit more healthcare workers, especially in rural communities.
The women made this appeal during separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday at various Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the community.
The residents also urged local councils to expand medical facilities, reduce long walking distances and improve remuneration to encourage health workers to accept rural postings.
An expectant mother at Ita-Elewa PHC, Monsurat Ajenifuja, said many women wait long hours for antenatal care due to staff shortages.
“Large numbers of women come for antenatal services daily, but there are too few health workers to attend to everyone,” she said.
The expectant mother added that Ikorodu’s rapid expansion has worsened the challenge.
“New communities are emerging, yet the number of health workers remains inadequate for the growing population,” she added.
A mother of two who resides in Ikorodu, Yetunde Abidemi, also called for more health facilities to reduce pressure on existing centres, adding that the distance to facilities forces some women to rely on herbal remedies.
“Additional PHCs will allow women to access antenatal care closer to their homes. Some women still patronise herbal medicine because PHCs are far from their homes,” said Abidemi.
A nursing mother, Mariam Shittu, urged authorities to recruit more doctors and other health workers to address workforce shortages. The nursing mother said the shortage had created an imbalance in healthcare staffing between urban and rural areas.
“There is a huge gap in manpower due to brain drain in the health sector. Health workers posted to rural areas often leave quickly for better opportunities, leaving some PHCs unable to function effectively,” said Shittu.
Nigeria is plagued by a shortage of healthcare workers, which affects hospitals, clinics, and especially rural health centres across the country.
One of the biggest causes is the large number of Nigerian health professionals leaving the country for better opportunities abroad.
