Ministerial Appointment: Group Tasks Buhari on Health Minister

The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, (AMLSN) has expressed the hope that General Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the just concluded presidential election will bring necessary change to the ailing health care system in the country.

In a statement signed by AMLSN President, Alhaji Toyosi Raheem, and made available to THISDAY recently, the group congratulated the president-elect for a welldeserved victory.

According to the statement, the association said that when the President-elect was Head of State between 1983 and 1985, the nation’s health sector experienced a great feat.

“We are optimistic that you will appoint credible, competent, unbiased and experienced administrators to lead the Federal Ministry of Health, as this no doubt will put an end to incessant crisis in the health sector in Nigeria.

“History has it that when an experienced, professionally unbiased health economist/ administrator was in charge during your first coming, our health sector in Nigeria ranked 4th in the whole of commonwealth nations,” the statement said.

AMLSN said it regretted the decline the sector had experienced since 1985, when General Buhari left office as the then head of government.

“We therefore expect a new dawn in then incoming administration of the nation’s health system to further promote effective and affordable health care for all.

“Health sector is made up of several professional groups all of which have the capacity to perform optimally when given a level playing field, the needed motivations, necessary tool and enabling environments.

“This will in turn, promote Universal Health Coverage, reduce out of pocket health expenditures for all Nigerians, promote the achievement of health related MDGs among others,” the medical scientists said.

AMLSN pledged its readiness to work with the Presidentelect to guarantee effective, efficient, reliable, affordable and timely medical laboratory services in the sector.

The AMLSN and other groups in the health sector under the National Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) have been asking the federal government to make key appointments across the different professionals in the health sector, ranging from doctors, pharmacists, medical lab scientists, nurses, among others.

They recently went on a nationwide industrial strike which lasted over three months. Though, the strike was suspended, the group has continued to call on the present government to settle the discrepancies affecting the unity of the sector.