Anambra MDCAN calls for appointment of Surgeon-General of the federation

THE Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria MDCAN, Anambra State chapter yesterday gave its support to the call by its parent body, the Nigeria Medical Association NMA, for the immediate appointment of a Surgeon-General of the Federation. Meanwhile, the Chapter has faulted the appointment of Directors, saying it distorts the chain of command in the hospitals.

The State Chairman of the MDCAN, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching hospital COOUTH, Amaku- Awka, Dr. Ameachi Nwachukwu told newsmen at a press Conference in Awka, during the Association NEC meeting which has 171 delegates from 53 chapters across the length and breadth of the country, that the appointment of an SGF would help to properly regulate activities in the nation’s health sector.

He said, “The position of a surgeon-general has been in existence in this country; the last surgeon-general was murdered during the time of the civil war. It was neither abolished nor was the office scraped. Having an SGF is as significant as having the Attorney-General of the Federation. The duties of an SGF will not in any way clash with that
of the Minister of Health.”

Rather, Nwachukwu said the appointment of an SGF would curtail the frequent foreign medical trips by Top Government office holders and save the country lots of monies mean for human and Capital development.

“The MDCAN is, therefore, calling on President Mohammadu Buhari as a matter of concern, appoint SGF in the interest of Nigerians,” he noted.

According to him, “One of the duties of an SGF will be the assessment of the health status of a public office holder. The SGF will determine if the health condition of such a public office holder requires a foreign medical trip or the one that can easily be treated in Nigerian hospitals. So the position of the Surgeon-General will curtail foreign trips by Top Government office holders and will also help to save lots of funds and boost our Gross Domestic Product, he said.

Nwachukwu noted that the SGF would also promote transparency among public office holders in the Health Sector across States.

It is the SGF that has the constitutional power to assess the state of health of a public office holder and determine if he or she is fit to occupy his or her position. The SGF will also be the one to assess the state of the nation’s health sector and drive a truly healthy health sector, he said.

He, however, stated that a qualified medical doctor must be the one to be appointed to the proposed position of SGF, and decried what he called ‘professional malady in the health sector.

Professor Ngim E. Ngim, the National President, Medical Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria MDCAN, at the conference, said that the Body has reached out to affiliate associations with a view to building a lasting relationship that would promote the welfare of the Consultants and a communication gap between families and patients to avoid ethical mistakes while practicing.

He said that the Federal Government of Nigeria should as a matter of urgency take immediate steps to contain the security challenges, including Herdsmen/Farmers clash, Cultism and Kidnapping across the length and breadth of Nigeria in order to restore the confidence of the citizens and foreigners alike and boost social and economic activities.

According to the President, the call for the establishment of Medical University in the Six Geopolitical Zone, recommended by the Association is in order to enhance the funding and capacity for undergraduate medical training and allied courses in the country. Ngim disclosed further that with the Plan, it will improve the doctor-population ratio and positive impact healthcare delivery in Nigeria, and that the MDCAN is ready to liaise with relevant agencies of government to work out the details of its implementation.

He then called the Federal Government to increase funding to the currently existing Medical Colleges in the country, in order to equipped and improved the facilities of this colleges for proper and quality of training of the incoming Doctors.