The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has announced that it will oversee the implementation of its new 24-hour call duty limit through Chief Residents of Departments and Centre Presidents at the 91 centres across the country where doctors are employed.
NARD President, Dr. Mohammad Usman Suleiman, shared this with The Guardian, stating that the Chief Residents and Centre Presidents would report to the NARD National Secretariat on the level of adherence to the directive in hospitals nationwide.
Suleiman also mentioned that the association has yet to receive any response from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare regarding the directive, adding: “It is why we are calling on the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to look into this.”
He stressed that the measure is necessary due to the intense workload faced by doctors.
According to Suleiman, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends one doctor for every 600 patients, Nigeria currently has only about 11,000 resident doctors serving over 240 million people, resulting in a ratio of 1 to 9,083.
He noted that, under these conditions, patients are already bearing the brunt of excessive call duties.
Suleiman further indicated that the association would announce additional initiatives aimed at enhancing doctors’ welfare and reducing burnout in the coming weeks.
In a related issue, NARD highlighted that over 35 percent of Nigerian children under five years of age suffer from malnutrition, calling it a serious public health problem.
In a post on X yesterday, the association stated: “Malnutrition contributes significantly to child mortality. It also impacts cognitive development, disease susceptibility, and national productivity.”
The organization urged support for sustainable nutrition programs to safeguard the health of children across the nation.
