Doctors want healthcare benchmark for political office

Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said it has drawn up “minimum” requirements for healthcare delivery against which politicians running for office can be held to account.

It came after town hall meeting with civil society groups and political parties in attempt to put health in political agenda ahead of 2019 elections.

“NMA will be visible in this respect and tell the public things that are the minimum we should expect in terms of health from anybody seeking office,” said Dr Francis Faduyile, newly elected president of the association.

The association’s 58th scientific conference is pushing to make quality healthcare an indicator of good governance.

“We will not continue to sit in the back seat in terms of health. Health should be one of the indicators of good governance in Nigeria,” he said.

At a briefing yesterday, NMA commended Senate President Bukola Saraki’s announcement that the 1% of consolidated revenue, meant to fund basic primary healthcare as stipulated in the National Health Act, had been figured into the 2018 budget.

It is the first time the 1% has ever come close to getting any budgetary allocation since the Health Act was passed in 2014.

In a communiqué released at the end of the conference, NMA said it was dismayed the government still had not reconstituted the governing board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, three years after it was dissolved.