Nigeria Has Only 1,200 Anaesthetists For 200m Patients –NSA

Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists (NSA) has said there are only 1,200 anaesthesia professionals to cater for over 200 million Nigerians.

The group stated this at a briefing marking the World Anaesthesia Day 2022 with the theme “Medication Safety” said over 5 billion people lack access to safe anaesthesia globally.

The president NSA, Prof. Elizabeth Ogboli Nwasor, said unsafe medication practices and medication errors were the leading causes of avoidable harm in health care across the world.

She added that five percent of all patients who are admitted to a hospital experience a medication error.

She said the World Anaesthesia Day began 1846 when doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrated the use of ether for the first time on a patient.

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“This was attributed to William Thomas Green Morton.  In doing so they changed surgery forever, proving it was possible for patients to undergo surgery without the torture of pain previously associated with it” she said.

“Despite nearly 170 years having passed since that first anaesthetic procedure and the countless breakthroughs that have succeeded it, nearly 5 billion people continue to lack access to safe anaesthesia practices.

“It is projected that 5% of all patients who are admitted to a hospital experience a medication error, and that an average hospital will have one medication error every 23 hours or every 20 admissions.

“Medication errors result in severe patient harm, disability and even death. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at $42 billion USD annually.”