Angela Onwuzoo The Guild of Medical Directors of Nigeria has raised the alarm that the hike in electricity tariff is straining private hospitals, forcing some to shut down. The Guild disclosed that no fewer than eight private hospitals in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, recently shut down over the high cost of electricity supply and insecurity. Besides the hike in electricity tariff, the hospital owners identified multiple taxations, brain drain, high cost of importation of medical equipment, and hike in drug prices as other factors crippling the operation of private hospitals in the country, which they noted deliver 70 per cent of healthcare to Nigerians.
The healthcare providers who called for immediate government intervention before more hospitals go moribund noted that the highlighted challenges have made the nation’s health sector very volatile. The Medical Directors made their concerns known during a press briefing at the end of the guild’s 2024 National Annual General Meeting, themed, ‘From Profession to Industry Practice in a VUCA Environment’, held in Lagos. Recall that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had on April 3, raised electricity tariffs by about 300 per cent.
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, as well as experts had opposed the tariff hike, arguing that this would drive manufacturers out of business, worsen inflation, and stifle small and medium enterprises. Addressing journalists, the GMD’s National Presiden.
