NMA Urges Fubara to Recruit More Health Workers as Rivers Expands Medical Facilities

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Rivers State Branch, has urged Governor Siminalayi Fubara to recruit more healthcare workers to match investments in health infrastructure and improve service delivery across the state.

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

Oparaodu said the establishment of additional health centres and investments in medical infrastructure had helped improve access to healthcare. However, she stressed that adequate staffing was necessary to ensure the facilities operated effectively and provided quality services.

“What we would like the governor to do is basically employment, more employment,” she said, adding that recruitment should cover not only doctors but also other professionals required to keep the healthcare system functioning.

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

She also noted that improved remuneration had made the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) more attractive to doctors seeking employment, including medical professionals from outside the state. However, she acknowledged that she could not provide exact statistics to establish whether the salary increases had reduced the number of doctors leaving Rivers State.

On concerns about unqualified medical practitioners, commonly known as quacks, the NMA chairperson said the association had an anti-quackery committee working with the Rivers State Ministry of Health to investigate suspected cases.

She explained that the association responds to public complaints about questionable medical facilities and practitioners whose professional qualifications require verification. Oparaodu added that public education remained important because patients might find it difficult to distinguish qualified doctors from unlicensed practitioners.

The association also raised concerns about doctors’ welfare, burnout, workplace safety and migration. As part of the Physicians’ Week activities, it plans to teach primary school pupils basic life-support skills, provide free medical and surgical services, and organise training and mentoring programmes for younger doctors. Oparaodu further called for the responsible use of artificial intelligence, telemedicine and other digital health technologies, with patient confidentiality and professional ethics protected.