To improve healthcare delivery in Africa, the Health and Education for International Education Hub (UNICITI) has inaugurated a one-year top-up programme to empower Nigerian nurses to compete favourably with their counterparts globally.

The Health and Education Ambassador, Peace Onuiri, in a press briefing in Abuja, said this would accord Nigerian Nurses international professional training at the shores of Africa, thereby improving the social and economic development of the continent.

Onuiri encouraged governments at all levels to take advantage of the programme to boost nursing training, which, according to her, would address gaps and challenges in the continental healthcare sector.

“This program is not just an academic endeavour but a transformative journey that will empower our nurses with advanced skills, knowledge, and global perspectives.

“African nurses will receive world-class training directly from Swansea University’s esteemed lecturers on African soil.

This is more than a course; it is an investment in the future of African healthcare,” she said.

Also speaking at the occasion, a public health consultant, Dr Ejike Orji, said the international training of Nurses in Africa will reduce the jappa syndrome that has bedevilled the health sector, leading to the loss of capable healthcare workers to other continents.

Orji said the top-up program is an opportunity to invest in the future and build a stronger, healthier Africa for younger generations.

He, therefore, urged governments, healthcare institutions, and agencies to leverage it and encourage Nigerian nurses to take advantage of the programme.