Minister tasks radiologists on data security

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, has tasked radiologists to identify challenges impeding data security to address the increasing cases of litigations from patients against its members.

The Minister made the call on Monday in Abuja at the 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Scientific Conference of the Association of Radiologists in Nigeria (ARIN) and the 60th AGM of the Association of Radiologists in West Africa (ARAWA).

Represented by his Special Assistant, Dr. Jimoh-Olawale Salaudeen, Pate also noted other challenges like manpower deficit, poorly regulated radiology practice in the country, and inadequate technology innovation.

“You are all witnesses to the increasing litigations in our practice arising from patients’ awareness of their rights and privileges.

“Leakages of patients’ information must be guarded against seriously with every sense of responsibility and deploy appropriate and efficient technology to prevent miscreants from invading the system.

“The place of the right diagnosis, which radiology practice largely represents in managing any disease condition, must be appreciated,” he said.

The Minister, however, said that the government is working to produce middlemen to bridge the gap of manpower deficit, adding that this must be done to avoid snowballing into the promotion of substandard practices.

He said that the ministry is committed to continuing collaboration with ARIN but charged the association to develop implementable solutions to all the challenges.

The National President of ARIN, Prof. Sule Saidu, also called on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to increase commitment to improving service delivery, training, and research in healthcare to ensure global best practices.

He said that government commitment to improving the health sector would certainly help curtail health tourism abroad, thus conserving the much-needed foreign exchange and hopefully helping to reverse the trend.

Prof Sule called on the government at various levels to pay more attention to the provision of more diagnostic equipment for the practice of radiologists, adding that it is only when the diagnosis is correct that proper treatment can be assured.

He said that with more attention from the government to the health sector, the brain drain would be reduced, adding that a lack of state-of-the-art facilities was part of the issues causing health workers’ migration.

Dr. Agaja James, Chairman of ARIN FCT/Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the event, stated that medical practitioners in Africa are reducing in numbers daily because of technological advancement and economic problems ravaging the world.

He said that the majority of medical practitioners have migrated from rural areas to cities in the Sub-Sahara region, and that many had also gone beyond the shores of Africa. He called on the government to find a lasting solution to the trend and save the health sector from imminent downfall.

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