Nigeria’s national health act: how well-informed are our Physicians?
Keywords:
National Health Ac, Nigeria, Physicians,Abstract
Background: In the year 2014, Nigeria’s National Health Act (NHA) was enacted. Physicians as key stakeholders in the implementation of the Act are expected to be conversant with the provisions of the Act. This study assessed the knowledge and perception of the National Health Act by Physicians.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of a group of Physicians in Nigeria to assess their self-reported knowledge and perception of the National Health Act 2014. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 16 (IBM SPSS, Chicago, IL) statistical software, with Pearson’s chi square used to determine associations between variables. Statistical significance was set at a P value of < 0.05.
Results: There were 152 respondents with 138 males and 14 females (M: F = 1:0.1). Most (82.9%) had good perception of the NHA; majority (96.1%) were aware of the Act, while less than a fifth (16.4%) had good knowledge of the NHA.
Conclusion: Although Physicians surveyed in this study had a high level of awareness and good perception of the National Health Act, they do not seem to be sufficiently well informed about the Act. Their knowledge of the Act would therefore need to be improved upon.
References
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