7th April, 2018
The Guild of Medical Directors (GMDs) on Saturday urged the Federal Government to give priority to health sector and provide quality healthcare services to all Nigerians.
Dr Chito Nwana, the Chairperson of GMD, FCT chapter, made the call in commemoration of the World Health Day in Abuja.
The theme of the day is: “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere, Health for All”.
“We also cannot ignore the mass exodus of our best health providers and specialists particularly doctors and nurses to other parts of the world.
“How can we achieve Universal Health Coverage without enough health care workers to provide services,” Nwana said in a statement.
“We must begin to value the medical profession by providing them with international standard training facilities, proper remuneration for their service and a stable environment in which they can grow in their profession.
“Reducing emigration of doctors and encouraging specialists that trained abroad to return to Nigeria to offer their services will positively contribute to the advancement of the health sector while curbing medical tourism,this ‘brain drain’ must stop,” she said.
Nwana said Nigerians should be more proactive and realise their right to essential quality healthcare, saying they are the ultimate beneficiaries of quality healthcare and also on the receiving end of poor healthcare.
She called on Nigerians to join the advocacy battle to ensure that the leadership invests accordingly in the health sector.
Nwana said the guild was prepared to partner with the community, government by providing incentives and promoting measures to keep hospitals open and healthcare providers available.
She said universal health coverage could become a reality in our country, if leaders are willing to use their powers to make healthcare their number one priority.
“To do so, there must be enough health facilities to meet the needs of the population. Presently, Nigeria lacks adequate public and private health facilities and is unable to meet the need of its citizenry.
“There has to be better partnerships, collaboration and cooperation between the public and private sector to develop a system that will improve access to healthcare.
“It is however unfortunate that this important relationship is lacking in our country,” she said.
Nwana said private health establishments are currently overburdened by multiple taxation charges and levies which had forced some establishments to close or reduce their standard of care in order to remain open.
She said the GMD made up of owners of private health facilities is an advocacy group that seeks to facilitate raising the quality of medical care offered by these establishments to globally accepted standards.
“To achieve this we advocate and promote a level playing field for our operations.
“We believe that our leaders must make health a priority, promote the private health sector by offering incentives such as tax breaks and exemptions to give room for growth, and to ensure that we, as providers, are brought to the table when policies are formulated or implemented.
“This will lead to the advancement of the public and private health facilities and hence the health sector as a whole,” she said.
The World Health Day is commemorated every April 7.
This year’s event coincided with the 70th anniversary of the World Health Organisation.