Doctors under the aegis of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has told the Federal government of Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in the health sector to tackle the numerous problems bedevilling the sector.
MDCAN’s President, Dr Victor Makanjuola at a media briefing to close the association’s 12th= biennial delegates meeting in Ibadan on Sunday said this is important to change the course of Nigeria’s health system otherwise it will totally collapse.
Makanjuola, flanked by Dr Yemi Raji, Dr Timothy Aladelusi, the association’s secretary-general and treasurer respectively, and Dr Abidemi Omonisi and Dr Dare Olulana, said the incessant strike in the health sector, poor infant and mortality rates, the mass exodus of health workers, and insecurity among other issues, all combined have made this imperative.
According to him, “It is apparent even to the blind; we have a health sector, where doctors have been on strike for the past one month and the other health workers are threatening to go on strike in a couple of days. We are among the worst countries in terms of health indexes.
“Considering all these many factors, it is imperative that the Federal government take health seriously and direct attention towards the health sector. We cannot continue the way we are running the health sector currently.
“It is the duty of the government to change the course otherwise we will have a total collapse. That is the reason we are calling for a state of emergency in the health sector. The situation itself is quite dire; it is almost an emergency situation we have at hand.”
Dr Makanjuola said the MDCAN’s ultimatum to join the ongoing doctors’ strike expires on the 13th of September to press home the demands of the resident doctors adding, “if you begin to owe a doctor four or five months salary, that doctor becomes a dangerous doctor. It has become a moral duty on the part of the doctors not to deliver services under such conditions because errors will occur.”
He stated that delegates at the MDCAN meeting want the federal government to restructure the administration of the health and decentralized the management of the federal tertiary hospitals; government at all levels to synergize processes to ensure universal health coverage and better health outcomes for Nigerians.
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