Doctors insist healthcare benchmark for political office (video)

Nigerian Medical Association says it has drawn up “minimum” requirements for health care delivery against which politicians running for office can be held to account. It came after town hall meeting with civil society groups and political parties in attempt to put health in political agenda ahead of 2019 elections. “NMA will be visible in […]

Nigerian Medical Association says it has drawn up “minimum” requirements for health care delivery against which politicians running for office can be held to account.

It came after town hall meeting with civil society groups and political parties in attempt to put health in political agenda ahead of 2019 elections.

“NMA will be visible in this respect and tell the public things that are the minimum we should expect in terms of health from anybody seeking office,” said Dr Francis Faduyile, newly elected president of the association.

The association’s 58th scientific conference is pushing to make quality health care an indicator of good governance.

“We will not continue to sit in the back seat in terms of health. Health should be one of the indicators of good governance in Nigeria,” said Faduyile.

"Dismayed"

At a briefing on Sunday, NMA commended Senate president Bukola Saraki’s announcement that the 1% of consolidated revenue, meant to fund basic primary health care as stipulated in the National Health Act, had been figured into the 2018 budget the President is expected to release shortly.

It is the first time the 1% has ever come close to getting any budgetary allocation since the Health Act was passed in 2014.

In a communiqué released at the end of the conference, NMA said it was dismayed the government still had not reconstituted the governing board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, three years after it was dissolved.

It also resolved the council, which regulates medical and dental teaching and practice, will not register any foreign-trained medical graduate not registrable by the regulatory of the country of their training.

The resolution came in the wake of controversy last year when the council allowed foreign-trained doctors to sit assessment tests in order to be licensed to practice in Nigeria, waiving a prerequisite that they ought to have practice licence from their countries of study.

More than half of them failed the assessment test, sparking more controversy over allegations of bias, and NMA firmly opposed any resit exams.