Health Minister urges medical practitioners to rise up to responsibilities

dimeji akinloye

May 12, 2017 5:26 AM

Adewole who decried the country’s poor health indicators, appealed to the NMA to collaborate with other health workers to address the burden.

Prof. Isaac Adewole

The Minister of Health, Prof

Adewole made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the leadership retreat organized by the association for Chief Executive Officers of Tertiary Health Institutions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the retreat is: “Strengthening Healthcare delivery in Nigeria through efficient leadership.’’

The minister, who decried the country’s poor health indicators, appealed to the NMA to collaborate with other health workers to address the burden.

He urged consultants to pay priority attention to the training resident doctors.

He warned that failure to train residency doctors would rob Nigerians of the present generation, their children as well as the next generation of quality healthcare.

The minister assured the NMA of his support and determination to do everything possible to achieve the deserved healthcare by Nigerians.

“Poor health indices are our responsibility; doctors must be at their duty post at every point in time to ensure every member of the team do his/her duties accordingly.

“We owe resident doctors a lot because they are the ones to take care of us when we are old.“We should train them right if not for our sake but our children.

“We do not have to go on strike to get things done; we must be proactive, work together to promote healthcare system that our nation deserved,’’ Adewole said.

The NMA President, Prof Mike Ogirima said the retreat was organized to ensure that heads of tertiary institutions rise up to their responsibilities with regard to efficient service delivery in the sector.

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Ogirima, who decried the poor health indices, said that that NMA as `custodians’ of people’s health could seat and watch helplessly.

He said that the association decided to organise the retreat to highlight the challenges bedeviling the sector and brainstorm on solutions.

In his remarks, Prof. Balarabe Garko, President, Medical Consultant Association of Nigeria (MCAN), urged the government to ensure proper overhauling of the health system.

“If it means sacking all doctors and re-engaging them based on merit so be it.

“There was a system that was working perfectly well before; what happened now.

“My view is that if the government feels we are causing so much problem, all of us should be sacked and re-engaged based on merit,’’ he suggested.

dimeji akinloye