NMA urges Fubara to recruit more healthcare workers in Rivers

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Rivers State Branch, has called on Governor Siminalayi Fubara to recruit more healthcare workers to match investments in health infrastructure, saying additional personnel are needed to improve service delivery across the state.

The chairperson of the association, Dr. Ureh Oparaodu, made the call while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt during activities marking the 2026 Physicians’ Week, where she commended the governor for supporting the health sector, increasing doctors’ salaries and expanding healthcare facilities.

Oparaodu said the establishment of more health centres and investments in health infrastructure have helped improve access to healthcare but stressed that facilities need adequate staff to function effectively.

Speaking on the zonal hospital in Omoku, she said the facility would improve access to secondary healthcare for residents of the Orashi region.

“Because the more infrastructures you put in place, the more employment of healthcare workers, not just doctors, but also those that make the healthcare system complete.”

The NMA chairperson also said improved remuneration had made the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, RSUTH, more attractive to doctors seeking employment, including medical professionals from other states.

However, when asked to provide figures showing whether the increase in salaries had reduced the number of doctors leaving Rivers State, Oparaodu said she could not provide exact statistics to support the claim.

“It is actually difficult to give an exact statistic because basically as clinicians, we work with exact figures,” she said.

She added that the teaching hospital was attracting interest from doctors outside the state because of its improved remuneration.

“So, we have a lot of people that are coming from other states that also want to also be employed in the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital because of that,” she said.

On concerns about unqualified medical practitioners, popularly known as quacks, Oparaodu said the NMA has an anti-quackery committee that works with the Rivers State Ministry of Health to identify and investigate suspected cases.

She explained that the association also acts on complaints from members of the public about questionable healthcare facilities and practitioners whose professional qualifications required verification.

“So, once we get that complaint, we now point our focus in that direction to confirm, is there really a doctor in that place?” she said.

Oparaodu acknowledged that medical quackery remains a problem because members of the public might not be able to distinguish qualified doctors from unqualified practitioners.

She said public education is therefore an important part of the association’s efforts to address the problem.

“One of the things that Nigerian Medical Association is also doing is basically we have a time on Thursdays and also on Sundays where we educate the masses on what to look out for, where to go to, the signs that you should actually take in place,” she said.

The association’s call for improved staffing formed part of its wider concerns about the future of medical practice in Nigeria, including doctors’ welfare, burnout, workplace safety and migration.

In her address during the opening ceremony of the Physicians’ Week, Oparaodu stressed the need for doctors to take their health seriously and work in environments that allow them to provide quality care without sacrificing their own well-being.

She also called for the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, telemedicine and other digital health technologies, stressing the need to protect patient confidentiality and maintain ethical standards in medical practice.

As part of the week’s activities, the association plans to teach primary school pupils basic life-support skills, provide free medical and surgical services and organise training and mentoring for younger doctors in Rivers State.