President
Muhammadu Buhari has been condemned for his frequent medical trips
abroad as it reflects the poor condition of health institutions in
Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) on Friday said the frequent
medical trips by President Muhammadu Buhari reflects the poor condition
of health institutions in the country.
The organization which frowned at the frequent visits by the
President abroad to treat himself said the trend is becoming worrisome
because the government has failed to improve health institutions in
Nigeria.
Buhari who banned public office holders from using public funds to
travel abroad has continued to visit hospitals abroad event after
millions have been budgeted for hospitals at Aso Rock.
The NMA, who was reacting to the ongoing strike by the National
Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), in Abuja said the poor state of
health institutions in the country has also been demonstrated by the
World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ranking of Nigerian Health System as
number 187 among 191 countries in 2015.
In a statement signed by the NMA President, Dr. Mike O. Ogirima and
the Secretary General of NMA, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, the association
said: “The poor state of our health institutions has not been in
doubt as demonstrated by the World Health Organisation ranking the
Nigerian Health System as number 187 among 191 countries in 2015, the
repeated patronage of foreign hospitals by our top government officials
and increasing medical tourism to hospitals overseas by well to do
Nigerians.”
The NMA stated that its leadership has been closely monitoring the
lingering crisis between membership of the NARD, an affiliate of NMA,
and the Federal Government on issues bordering on poor state of health
of Nigerians and welfare of their members.
The statement pointed out that the NMA, as the umbrella body of all
doctors in Nigeria and the custodian of the people’s health, has been
earnestly mediating between the government and NARD to end the lingering
crisis by putting the Nigerian health system back on the path to
development.
According to the NMA, the issues in contention are the unattractive
poor working environment in public hospitals which is continually
weakening the health work force through brain drain; and the renewed
efforts to distort the harmony among healthcare workers by some
individuals within the Federal Ministry of Health, which is threatening
to completely derail the health system
It also listed the selective and biased implementation of the
contents of various government circulars and agreements as they relate
to remuneration of doctors, which is a perfect indication of lack of
political will to end the prolonged crisis in the health sector.
Also causing disagreement between the NARD and the government is
the delay in bringing out a white paper on the various postgraduate
medical training programmes in Nigeria.
The association explained that the issues in dispute were already
resolved at meetings mediated by the Speaker, House of Representatives,
Yakubu Dogara, where agreements with time lines for implementation were
reached with the Federal Ministry of Health, NARD and the NMA on 14th
July, 2016.
The NMA, however, regretted that the agreements reached and time lines have been breached by the Federal Ministry of Health.
The association, therefore, called on the Minister of Health to
urgently and decisively deal with the saboteurs of government policies
within the Federal Ministry of Health.
The statement said: “While still looking forward to an amicable
resolution of the germane issues raised, the NMA demands an immediate
withdrawal of the threat as contained in circular no. DHS/828/T/199 of
the 19th January, 2017 issued by the Director of Health Services (DHS)
of the Federal Ministry of Health to Chief Medical Directors and Medical
Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to employ temporary doctors to
replace the members of NARD who are currently on a warning strike action
to press home their unmet demands.
“It is expedient that government works urgently to sincerely
address ALL the issues that are responsible for the ongoing crises in
the Nigerian healthcare sector to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
“The NMA wishes to state explicitly that it will not fold its
arms and watch the training of medical specialists and the healthcare
system being desecrated by any individual or clique.
“NMA shall exploit every means within the law to ensure that
justice is done and that the Residency Training Programme, all doctors
practicing in Nigeria and the welfare of all healthcare workers are
treated with the utmost seriousness they deserve.
“Finally, while closely monitoring the developments as they
unfold, the NMA wishes to call on all well meaning Nigerians to prevail
on the Federal Ministry of Health officials not to further jeopardise
the health of Nigerians already burdened with the biting economic
recession.”
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