The Executive Director of Nana Women and Girls Initiative, Dr Fatima Adamu, has lamented that an unidentified man in Katsina State divorced his 14-year-old wife because she allow a male doctor to attend to her while giving birth to his baby.
Dr. Adamu, who made the disclosure on Thursday, said that the young girl, name withheld, was divorced by her husband despite a complicated childbirth.
According to her, the young mother was rushed to hospital where the only male medical practitioner available attended to her during labour.
Although the birth was successful, the husband went berserk when, upon arriving at the hospital, he discovered that the medical practitioner that attended to his wife during labour was a male.
Unable to stomach the disappointment, he divorced his young wife.
Narrating the ordeal, Dr. Adamu said: “A 14-year-old Fulani girl in Katsina State delivered and had difficulty with delivery, so we had to take her to the hospital.
“Aafter the delivery, the husband divorced her because she was attended by a man. This young girl was divorced all because she was attended by a man during delivery,” she stressed.
She further noted that Nigeria was producing medical doctors far below what is required by the World Health Organisation.
She stated: “There is shortage of health workers despite the production. We are producing health workers far below our needs.
“Our average population growth is 3.2, but our annual production of nurses and midwives is 2.6, so definitely, there is gap.
“That is the latest data available that could be accessed.”
Adamu spoke at an event, the Human Resources for Health Production Dialogue, where she was the keynote speaker.
She appealed to governments at all levels to ensure there was equity in the recruitment and deployment of medical personnel to rural communities.
The event was organised with a view to revolutionising the country’s healthcare system.
The organisers called for accountability and prudence in healthcare training institutions and to minimize the brain drain that is bedeviling the health sector