At the conclusion of its 2022 National Executive Council (NEC) yesterday in Gombe, the association issued a communiqué that was jointly signed by its President and Secretary-General, Drs. Uche R. Ojinmah and Jide Onyekwelu. The communiqué read: "NEC observed that one of the most serious obstacles to the development of effective health services in Nigeria is inadequate supply of skilled human resource. With the health professionals already being overworked, this has caused major labor shortages in most healthcare facilities across the nation. This has seriously distorted Nigeria's already subpar doctor-patient ratio of 1:5,000 compared to the WHO's recommended ratio of 1:600.
The organization lamented the pervasive detrimental effects of burnout on all facets of medical care, including decreased patient satisfaction and treatment quality, greater incidence of medical errors, and an epidemic of physician burnout currently raging across the nation.
"Healthcare Delivery in the Face of Insecurity" served as the conference's subject. The two sub-themes were "Re-emerging Health Issues: Monkey Pox Disease and Marburg Virus Disease" and "Health Manpower Planning: The Challenges of Physician Burnout and Brain Drain in Nigeria."
READ ALSO: 2022 Headies Awards: Davido Deserves More
The doctors also noted that health threats are spreading throughout Nigeria and cited poor infrastructure, inadequate and outdated equipment, a lack of human resources, poor pay for healthcare professionals, medical brain drain, insufficient funding, abuse of the referral system, inter-professional rivalry, and insecurity as major barriers to effective healthcare delivery in the nation.
They also noted that some regions of the nation had health facilities that were off-limits to both patients and medical personnel due to the country's escalating instability.
The doctors also emphasized how the Federal and State Governments in Nigeria have failed to properly address security flaws and control kidnappings.
The communiqué stated that "health personnel have been targeted in several communities, with some of them being kidnapped while performing their responsibilities, and few of them being slain by gunmen."
The NEC warned that if the threat is not addressed, the already precarious health indices may get worse and urged government at all levels and security authorities to act quickly.
It assessed how far the states of Abia, Ekiti, Ondo, and Imo had come in settling the backlog of salaries owed to physicians and other healthcare professionals.
NEC criticized the Abia State Government for failing to pay salaries and other benefits to doctors and other healthcare professionals for up to 24 months. It viewed the course of action as being unjust, displeasing, and extremely offensive to the principles of civil service and natural justice.
On the other hand, NEC was pleased with how far the states of Ekiti, Ondo, and Imo had come in reducing their backlogs.
It was decided that the Abia NMA should issue a three-week deadline to the state administration to resolve the unresolved issues. Doctors in the state would go on an indefinite strike that "must involve all doctors in federal, state, and private hospitals" if the necessary steps weren't taken.
The NEC also noticed the attempt to exclude physicians working for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and those in basic medical faculties at universities, as well as the poor progress made in implementing the new hazard allowance.
The organization claimed that some state governments have always been reluctant to comply with the upward review of salary and benefits for doctors employed by the government.
NEC noted with delight that the newly approved Hazard allowance has already begun to be paid by the Delta state government.
NEC further decided to keep the engagement going and use every legal strategy to ensure that the newly approved Hazard Allowance would be paid out within the following two months. Additionally, NEC mandated that all doctors employed by Federal, State, and Local Government entities get the new Hazard allowance.
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), working on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, was criticized by the NEC for introducing a measure to create a regulatory body for traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine in the nation. The NEC noted that various elements of the Bill would conflict with the mandated duties of the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (MDCN).
The NEC instructed the NOC to discuss the need for changing the title of the Bill on Complementary, Alternative, and Traditional Medicine Board to represent exclusively African Traditional Medicine topics with the National Assembly and the FMoH.
The Nigerian Executive Council (NEC) noted with great pain that the government of Nigeria has not deemed it appropriate to immortalize our colleague, Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, eight years after she paid the ultimate price in the line of duty while defending Nigerians from the spread of Ebola Viral Haemorrhagic Fever. This serious injustice, according to NEC, deters patriotic Nigerians.
The NEC decided to honor Dr. Stella Adadevoh, an unsung heroine, with the name of her regular Medical Outreach. The Dr. Stella Adadevoh Memorial Medical Outreach - Powered by The Nigerian Medical Association will henceforth be the name of the NMA Medical Outreach Program. The National Officers Committee was also instructed by the NEC to submit Dr. Stella Adadevoh for a deserving Post-Humous Award to the NMA's Honors and Awards Committee.
The World Medical Assembly (WMA) will officially be presided over by Dr. Osahon Enabulele, a past president of the NMA, during the General Assembly of the Association in Berlin, Germany, from October 5 to 8, 2022. This is something that the NEC took note of. Dr. Osahon Enabulele, according to the NEC, is the first Nigerian to hold this position.
