The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu‘s led government to, without further hesitation, declare a state of emergency on the country’s health sector with a view to addressing its challenges.
Naija News reports that the NMA Ekiti State Branch made the call in a communique signed and issued on Sunday, August 13, by its State Chairman, Dr. Babatunde Rosiji, and Secretary, Dr. Moses Dada.
The medical doctors berated the deploring state of the sector, appealing to the federal government to allocate at least 15 per cent of the national budget to health as stipulated in the Abuja Declaration, saying such “will be an initial step to show commitment to the growth of the health sector on the part of all tiers of government”.
The statement issued at the end of the 26th Annual General Meeting of NMA Ekiti, with the theme, “Medical legislation: The need for inclusiveness in achieving stability in the Health industry” reads: “The government is urged to declare a state of emergency on health and do the needful by providing a conducive environment which is good enough to endear our health professionals and retain them in the country.
“If nothing deliberate is done to rescue the health sector, native doctors will soon start running our hospitals. The neglect of the health sector is already leading to the proliferation of quacks who are now brazenly parading themselves as doctors and even conducting graduations to induct their apprentices to the ‘medical professions’”.
The medical doctors also urged the federal government to urgently address the rising cost of drugs and medical consumables to prevent the cost of health services from becoming so prohibitive to the point of driving patients away from our hospitals.
They insisted that “All efforts must be made to ensure universal coverage of citizens under the National Health Insurance Act. Efforts must also be made by the NHIA to review the drug tariff currently being operated to reflect current economic realities”.
The NMA, while lauding Ekiti State Government for rolling out palliatives that cut across all strata of people, called on other state governors “to emulate the governor of Ekiti State by providing well thought out palliatives to the masses”.
“The approval by Governor Oyebanji of pay parity for clinical workers at the Hospitals’ Management Board will now help in attracting fresh hands to the HMB and this will better position the HMB for better service delivery.
“The AGM expressed confidence that the consequential adjustment of minimum wage and pay parity will equally be extended to our colleagues in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital and Primary Health Care Development Agency,” the doctors said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Friday evening announced the suspension of its nationwide strike.
Naija News gathered that members of NARD embarked on a strike to press home their demands from the federal government.
Some of the demands of the resident doctors include payment of the 2023 medical residency training fund (MRTF); immediate release of the circular on one-for-one replacement, and upward review of the consolidated medical salary structure (CONMESS).
Others are payment of outstanding arrears of consequential adjustment, hazard and skipping allowance.
The President of NARD, Emeka Orji, in an interview with TheCable, said that the strike was suspended on Friday evening, adding that the resident doctors would resume work at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
He said, “We just suspended the strike. Work to resume at 8 am tomorrow. We will review progress made in two weeks.”
The federal government, in the wake of the strike, said it had approved the payment of an accoutrement allowance of N25,000 per quarter to medical and dental doctors in hospitals, medical centres and clinics in the federal public service.
The government also approved a 25 per cent increase in the consolidated medical salary structure (CONMESS), however, NARD rejected the allowance and pay increase, calling it “paltry”.
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