The Nigeria Labour Congress has rejected the moves by the federal government to concession the 22 federal teaching hospitals in the country.
It said such a measure could lead to exorbitant cost of medical treatment beyond the capacity of majority of Nigerians.
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said this at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Federal Capital Territory Nurses Week/Scientific Workshop in Abuja, that the government should instead invite the private sector to invest by establishing new hospitals and not taking over existing public hospitals.
He said the Infrastructure Concession, Regulatory Commission recently recommended the concessioning of the 22 teaching hospitals, adding that previous attempts to privatise the National Trauma Centre in Gwagwalada, Abuja was rejected by the health workers’ union.
Wabba added that at the inception of the present administration and despite the fact that there were proponents of privatisation of healthcare, President Muhammadu Buhari publicly expressed his opposition to the privatisation of healthcare in the country.
