Neglecting the Lifeline: The Plight of Nigeria’s Community Health Practitioners

 


Across Nigeria, about 200 Colleges of Health and Teaching Hospitals tirelessly train and graduate Community Health Practitioners every year. These institutions produce skilled professionals equipped to bridge the gap between the health system and the people, the very frontline workers who carry healthcare into our villages, towns, and underserved communities.


Yet, despite their vital role, a staggering number of these practitioners remain unemployed after graduation. Both public and private sectors seem to have turned a blind eye to their potential contribution. The reality is heartbreaking. After spending huge sums to complete their training and obtain licenses from the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN), many are left stranded, qualified but jobless, hopeful but forgotten.


The few who find work in private clinics and hospitals are often grossly underpaid, earning far below what their knowledge, training, and service to humanity deserve. This widespread underemployment has forced many into survival strategies, such as running patent medicine stores. Unfortunately, without adequate oversight and opportunities for proper practice, some cross professional boundaries, not out of defiance, but out of desperation to survive in a system that has neglected them.


This situation poses a double danger. Not only are trained community health professionals wasted, but the public also bears the consequence of a weakened grassroots health system. When those who should lead health promotion, disease prevention, and early intervention are sidelined, preventable illnesses thrive, and the nation’s primary healthcare objectives remain unattained.


Nigeria cannot achieve meaningful progress in healthcare delivery while ignoring the very professionals who sustain health at the community level. The government, the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN), and the Association of Community Health Practitioners of Nigeria (ACHPN) must act decisively  through policy review, improved employment quotas, and fair remuneration to reintegrate and motivate these practitioners.


Investing in Community Health Practitioners is not an act of charity; it is a strategic investment in the nation’s wellbeing. Their neglect is a silent crisis one that threatens the foundation of our healthcare system.


®Ahmed Salim Jn ✍️ RCHP 

#Uloko

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