THERE is fewer than one anaesthetist operating in Nigeria for every 1,2-million citizens, a top official from the Society of Anaesthetists of West Africa said on Monday. Navy Surgeon Olaniyi Oladapo said there are fewer than 100 trained anaesthetists in the country whose population is put by the United Nations at 121,8-million. “We have more than 1,2-million people to one anaesthetist in the country. We need more anaesthetists,” he told a seminar on health in Lagos. Oladapo said the government should do more to train medical students in the specialised area, vital to successful surgery, he said.