Govt non-commitment to issues fuels strike
You said the NMA would not be going on strike again if your bargains with government are given full consideration. Being that the NMA was on strike at the wake of the Ebola outbreak, are you trying to make it up to Nigerians?What I said is, if the government meets the demands on the terms […]
You said the NMA would not be going on strike again if your bargains with government are given full consideration. Being that the NMA was on strike at the wake of the Ebola outbreak, are you trying to make it up to Nigerians?
What I said is, if the government meets the demands on the terms of our bargain, then doctors will not be going on strike again for those demands. It is all conditioned on government response, NMA cannot control that. What we are trying to say is that the rights of doctors, which government has agreed on, if they fulfil those rights there will be no strike even in the future, because the strike usually arise because the government does not always keep to its own side of the bargain.
Where does NMA fit in the country’s preparedness to fight Ebola?
I would say perfectly. What we are actually doing is to pre-empt government, they do these things once you give them signal that this is what should be done. Definitely NMA cannot provide the equipment that can go round the country, but if we pick on a particular area and supply equipment you can now call on the government to see what you are doing, and then we move together. So that is our own way of making government to look in that direction.
Do you consider the possibility that government may see that and sit back and watch, or decide to go on its way?
No, we expect them to do it the same way we are doing it: the treatment, the precautionary measures, the prevention against Ebola is the same everywhere, at all levels. Being the profession that is supposed to lead with example in the medical sector, we expect that government will follow whatever prototype we are trying to put in place.
What other measures will the NMA introduce which are different from the strategies already on the ground?
Revising protocol depends on circumstance prevailing at a time. If the position remains the same, then there will be no need of revising protocol. But if the situation changes, the protocol will be adjusted to respond to the changes. For now , if you have any protocol on the ground, and you learn of another possible Ebola outbreak somewhere in Nigeria, then we have to revive the protocol for us to tackle it and if there are reports that some strangers have again entered our country with Ebola, then we already know how to respond immediately. So the protocols could be modified according to situations that are on the ground at that point in time.
Beyond Ebola, there are other haemorrhagic fevers that Nigeria has been dealing with, that are considered endemic, like Lassa fever, Dengue Fever, and Yellow Fever. Would the present protocol satisfy what the government would need in dealing with these infectious diseases?
The protocol is applicable to all the infectious diseases, but there might be slight modifications for Dengue, Lassa and Yellow fever. But all the protocol we have for Ebola can be effective for all these infectious disease because it is better to over prepare than to underestimate the attack of the infectious diseases. If you prepare for Ebola, definitely you are taking care of all the other infectious diseases. The most important thing is diagnosis, once it is suspected, it is taken to an isolation unit, and diagnosis is made within 48 hours. Once it is diagnosed to be Dengue or Lassa or Yellow fever, then the protocol to follow will be along those diseases, but if it comes out to be Ebola, the protocol will be along the line.
How crucial is reducing under-five mortality?
The commonest thing about newborn death is birth asphyxia. That means that when a baby is born, the baby is supposed to cry and when the baby cries, the chest expands, and all the resistance to breathing are taken down and the baby will be able to inhale oxygen and life starts and continues. So those first few minutes of life are very important. There are conditions that can happen right from the uterus, when the baby is still in the womb of the mother that could cause depression or stop respiration. That is the whole programme of helping the baby to breathe. It is very important because if damage is done to the brain of that baby, within the first five minutes of birth, that baby will be affected for life in terms of intelligence and neurological development. All these can happen that is why it is very important that neonatal asphyxia is prevented in all deliveries.
Measures needed to initiate breathing, how wide spread is the practice in the country’s health facilities?
It should be in all labour rooms, where a woman is going to deliver, that is why they are undergoing that training, because the way you manage a child that is born is very important and it is not limited to teaching hospitals and general hospitals. That is a primary resuscitation measure.
Is the NMA considering convincing its members to work in rural communities?
It is a problem in Nigeria now, we don’t have enough doctors, and we have maldistribution of doctors—all wanting to be in teaching hospitals, and the rural areas are abandoned. Again the government is working on schemes that will make it possible for doctors to work in local hospitals. I learnt that local governments are now going to operate different from the states. Because when the local governments are completely under the state governments, state government don’t even finance local government health centres at all, whereas the primary health centres are the first port of call to people and that’s why people are just running to teaching hospitals all the time. Now when the local governments start spending their vote themselves, they will resuscitate services that are in their own local hospitals and people will now have access and doctors will be able to move into those places because equipment will be there and they will be able to gain satisfaction, to practise there. Right now if you go there, there is nothing happening there, they don’t give them funds and you must bow down to the will of your governor before you can do anything.