The Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative (PHSAI) has called for urgent reforms to Nigeria’s healthcare system after the death of Dr Oluwafemi Rotifa, a resident doctor who collapsed following a 72-hour shift at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH).
Dr Rotifa, licensed by the UK’s General Medical Council and a former president of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association, died alone in the Emergency Room. PHSAI described the incident as a “national wake-up call,” highlighting the extreme pressures faced by overstretched healthcare workers.
“The workload is enormous for the few doctors remaining,” said Dr Tope Osundara, President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors. At the same time, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu of the Nigerian Medical Association called the death “heartbreaking and unacceptable.”
PHSAI urged immediate action, including enforced maximum working hours, mandatory rest breaks, better pay and housing, hazard allowances, faster licensing for new graduates, and incentives to attract diaspora doctors back to Nigeria. The group also called for stronger task-sharing with nurses and allied health professionals, and comprehensive welfare support for families of doctors who die in service.
The organisation noted that Nigeria’s doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:10,000, far below the World Health Organisation’s recommended 1:600, and cited previous deaths of doctors as evidence of systemic neglect. PHSAI warned that without reform, more lives will be lost.
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