From Winifred Bosa, Lagos.

The repeated patronage of foreign hospitals by our top government officials and increasing medical tourism to hospitals overseas by well to do Nigerians is  an indication of poor state of the health institutions in the country.

This observation was made by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA)
as President Muhammadu Buhari leaves for London on medical leave.

In a statement signed by the NMA President, Dr. Mike O. Ogirima and the Secretary General of NMA, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, the association said: “The poor state of our health institutions has not been in doubt as demonstrated by the World Health Organisation ranking the Nigerian Health System as number 187 among 191 countries in 2015, the repeated patronage of foreign hospitals by our top government officials and increasing medical tourism to hospitals overseas by well to do Nigerians.”

In addition , NMA reacted to the ongoing strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), and they  explained that the issues in dispute were already resolved at meetings mediated by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu  Dogara, where agreements with time lines for implementation were reached with the Federal Ministry of Health, NARD and the NMA on 14th July, 2016.

But , however, regretted that the agreements reached and time lines have been breached by the Federal Ministry of Health.

The association, therefore, called on the Minister of Health to urgently and decisively deal with the saboteurs of government policies within the Federal Ministry of Health.

The statement said: “While still looking forward to an amicable resolution of the germane issues raised, the NMA demands an immediate withdrawal of the threat as contained in circular no. DHS/828/T/199 of the 19th January, 2017 issued by the Director of Health Services (DHS) of the Federal Ministry of Health to Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to employ temporary doctors to replace the members of NARD who are currently on a warning strike action to press home their unmet demands.”

The statement also pointed out that the NMA, as the umbrella body of all doctors in Nigeria and the custodian of the people’s health, has been earnestly mediating between the government and NARD to end the lingering crisis by putting the Nigerian health system back on the path to development.

According to them , the issues in contention are the unattractive poor working environment in public hospitals which is continually weakening the health work force through brain drain; and the renewed efforts to distort the harmony among healthcare workers by some individuals within the Federal Ministry of Health, which is threatening to completely derail the health system