Doctors blame govt for failing health sector
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has accused the three tiers of government of toying and playing politics with the health of Nigerians.
It said the government lacks the political will and commitment to implement policies to improve the sector.
The NBA president Dr. Osahon Enabulele expressed regrets that Nigeria has celebrated its 100 years in existence as a country but was still grappling with lots of challenges heighten by the nonchalant attitude of its governments.
Enabulele who was speaking at his valedictory press conference said: “after 100 years of existence, Nigeria’s public healthcare industry is bereft of international best practices; it has become an all comer affairs with every one virtually accountable only to himself, with little or no coordinated regulation and supervision by the employer of labour’.
He said the elites only remember the importance of health when they fall ill and have need for the services of medical doctors, most of whom daily exiting the shores of the country as a result of unsatisfactory government policies and poor workplace conditions of services.
According to him, most public office holders do not think it is their responsible to fix or invest in health facilities nor provide an enabling environment to safeguard the lives of the people.
He advised the government to establish the office of the Surgeon General of the Federation to address the burgeoning rise in medical tourism as a result of indiscreet approvals for foreign medical tours by public officers with the use of tax payer’s resources.
Enabulele also urged Nigerians to vote only “health conscious Nigerians who appreciate the veritable relationship between health and development and who truly appreciate the need to promote their health and fundamental human rights”.