Anesthésie et recherche clinique
Libre accès
ISSN: 2155-6148
ISSN: 2155-6148
Nnaji Chimaobi Tim1*, Okoli Chinwe Edith2
Anaesthesia and surgical care are essential for the treatment of many of the health-related conditions and they are integral component of a functional and resilient health system. The WFSA Global Anaesthesia projected that at least 5 physician anaesthesia providers per 100,000 population is needed to effectively ensure leadership of anaesthesia services and delivery of emergency and essential patient care. This study aims to evaluate the anaesthesia provider capacity in the south-eastern Nigeria, as an index of safe perioperative care. We conducted a study to survey the anaesthesia provider capacity in the south-eastern Nigeria, during the period of September through December 2021 by contacting the various Heads of Anaesthesia Department in public and private hospitals on phone and via Whatsapp messages. We also analyzed the 2016 edition of Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists Membership Directory. The total number of physician-anaesthetists and non-physician anaesthetists in the various states in south-eastern Nigeria were evaluated relative to the population density. Data was collated using Microsoft excel spread sheet and analyzed using SPSS version 27.0 and presented as frequencies, proportions and ratios in tabular and descriptive forms. This survey showed that there are 50 consultant anaesthetists (anaesthesia specialist physicians) working in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, serving 21,955,414 population at the rate of 0.2 per 100,000 populations. The non-physician anaesthesia providers were the nurse anaesthetist (83), anaesthesia technicians (29) and anaesthesia attendants (39). This study shows that there is critical shortage of qualified physician anaesthetists and other anaesthesia providers in south-eastern Nigeria.