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  • NMA, PSN to tackle quackery

    NMA, PSN to tackle quackery

    •Doctors condemn attack on colleague

    The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) are set to root out quackery in the profession by deploying high-tech tools, its President, Dr. Mike Ogirima, has said.

    Speaking in Lagos during the NMA’s officials’ visit to PSN secretariat, he said every registered member with the Medical and Dental Council (MDCN) would be given a seal and stamp, with their names uploaded on the MDCN website.

    “The executives and the committee set up to just monitor and expose quacks will move and ascertain the authenticity of the seal and stamp. We will deploy instruments like POS for that, and once the stamp or seal failed to read then we know such is a fake, and will be handed over to the doctor,” Ogrima said.

    He said the exercise would commence in August. “The seal and stamp will be renewable over a period of time, so either they are used by the doctor or not, after the expiration there will be need for a new one,’’ he said.

    Ogirima said both NMA and PSN had vowed to bury the hatchet and focus on patient care and development of the sector.

    PSN President Alhaji Ahmed Yakasai and Ogirima said on resumption of duties, they agreed to pursue peace by looking at all the areas of discord, adding that the national bodies also agreed to work together.

    Ogirima said not only medics and pharmacists would be bonding for the sake of patients but other professionals, too. “A significant novelty match has been put up in Abeokuta to herald this relationship. So also will we play table tennis, Badminton, golf, and other games. This will show the harmonious relationship of all professionals in the health sector for the betterment of our patient. I have vowed that not in my tenure will I lead doctors on strike and till date no national strike has been called by NMA.”

    Ogirima said he gave kudos to the leadership of PSN for initiating the peace accord with doctors. “The issues that were in court between past leaders of both groups have also been settled out of court. We are happy this is happening in our time,” said Dr Ogirima.

    Yakasai said having known the leadership of NMA for over 32 years assisted him to broach the issue. “This is a new era and much can be achieved through dialogue just as the settlement out of court of the warring parties have indicated. They were even using personal monies to engage one another in the court of law. We are working on documenting and passing the framework for the harmonious relationship between all professionals, so that when we leave office others will know how to better relate as professionals based on mutual trust and deep respects for the sake of patient. And anybody can turn to a patient anytime, any day. We are coming together to save the situation,”  Yakasai said.

    “In the spirit of peace and harmony, with mutual respect, trust, collaboration and teamwork we can build a formidable healthcare sector we can all be proud of. As pharmacists, we are expanding our umbrella hence the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN) has allowed pharmacist technicians to be given admission to study pharmacy from 200 level. Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) has also ruled on that. We are making changes to reflect this, so we have Pharmacy law appropriation to replace Pharmacists law to give room for their own representative to be in the Council,” said Alhaji Yakasai.

    Yakasai decorated Dr Ogirima with a beautiful Medallion with the logo of Nigerian Medical Association and reiterated his belief in unity, collaboration, mutual respect and teamwork in the health sector for the benefits of the nation and the good people of this the country. Dr Ogirima appreciated the gesture, describing it as an act of generosity and the show of love of PSN and as well as described Yakasai as an ambassador of peace and progress.

    Meanwhile, Dr Ogirima has condemned the attack on one of his colleagues at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi.

    “For a soldier to brazenly beat up a doctor in the course of his duty is abhorred. If the armed man had had a gun with him, he would have shot the doctor. That is condemnable. I have talked to the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) Igbobi branch to call off their strike just as we expect the hospital’s management to take up the matter with the right authorities,” Ogirima said.

    He said every individual is expected to be civil while discharging his professional duties and, “under no circumstance should anyone be subjected to humiliation o even threat to life, as experienced by our colleague at Igbobi”,  Ogirima said.

  • Saraki, NMA, Nigerians in Diaspora, others mourn Osotimehin

    Senate President  Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Americas (NIDOA), Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and National Population Commission (NPC) Chairman Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN) yesterday mourned the sudden death of Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.

    Osotimehin, a former minister of Health and executive director of United Nations (UN) Population Fund (UNFPA), passed away on Sunday night in New York at the age of 68 years.

    Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, described Osotimehin’s death as a monumental loss to Nigeria and the international community.

    Saraki said: “Osotimehin was a doctor’s doctor. He was one of the finest in the medical profession in this generation. As a medical doctor myself, I know first-hand, the zeal and devotion with which Osotimehin plied his trade.

    “His passion for excellence enabled him to rise to the zenith of his profession and subsequent emergence as the Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and later minister of Health during the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.”

    He called on the Federal Government to immortalise Osotimehin in view of his extensive contributions to national development in healthcare administration.

    In a statement, Public Relations Director of NIDO Americas, Bukola Shonuga, described Osotimehin as one of Nigeria’s best talents.

    “We are deeply saddened by the passing away of Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director.

    “He was a global citizen and one of Nigeria’s best talents. He was a gentle giant with a heart of gold and a generous man who believed that women’s rights are equal rights.

    “He believed that free healthcare is every citizen’s right; and that every child should have the opportunity to realise his or her full potential,” he said.

    NMA yesterday opened a condolence register for the former minister.

    In a statement, NMA President Prof. Mike Ogirima and secretary Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununus stated that the former minister would be missed for his innovative thinking.

    “More importantly, the late Prof. Osotimehin would be missed for his innovative thinking, strategic engagement and passionate delivery of his several life’s goals, including protecting the rights to health of women and girls, especially in family planning & population matters”, among others.

    He described the demise of Osotimehin as a monumental loss to the global community, humanity and the Nigerian people.

    Duruiheoma said the late professor was an irresistible campaigner for the welfare of the girl-child and women.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Kogi doctors to resume strike

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi has directed its members to resume the strike they suspended two weeks ago.

    The association said in a statement after an emergency congress in Lokoja on Saturday that the resumption of the strike was informed by government’s alleged failure to fulfill its promises to meet their demands.

    The chairman of the association in Kogi, Dr .Godwin Tijani, said the decision was for the entire doctors to resume strike since their demands have been ignored by the state government.

    According to him, the state government has failed to honour the agreement despite its assurance after the stakeholders’ intervention.

    Tijani said, “It is really unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this mess. We respected all the stakeholders who wanted the progress of the Kogi health sector, but the government is putting deaf ears into our demands.

    “We have had several promises of salary alerts for the past one week without success;  consequently, the Kogi NMA hereby directs all its members to resume strike as from 12:00 a.m. on  June 5, 2017.”

    NAN

     

  • Rivers: Senior citizens at elderly home beg for medical attention

    Rivers: Senior citizens at elderly home beg for medical attention

    Senior citizens at the Home for the Elderly in Port Harcourt Friday begged the government and well-meaning individuals and organizations for medical attention to aide their failing health conditions.

    The elderly persons made this call during a health outreach packaged by the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA) in the state as part of its programmes to commemorate the Rivers Golden Jubilee Celebration.

    Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Matron of the Home for Elderly in Port Harcourt, Reverend-Sister MaryJane Rafael Agwubosi, thanked the body for the intervention, describing it as timely.

    Agwubosi stated that the home lost two of its inmates last week to ailment and called on well-meaning individuals to join the NMA to give more medical attention to the senior citizens in the home.

    She said: “When we got the message that NMA is coming to see us we were so happy. They have come at the time we need them most. We thank them for this gesture.

    “Here we have a lot of challenges especially medical issues. Last week we lost two of our people here to sickness. When we sent them to the hospital they died because attention was not given to them.

    “We need a lot of help. We need social workers. We need attention of the government and the public. Some time we do not have money to pay workers, but we do not lack food here. We need help to get more workers and to be able to pay them.”

    Meanwhile, the Chairman of NMA in the state, Dr. Dantoye Alasia stressed the need for good medical attention to be given to elderly people and disclosed that over 60 persons benefited from the programme.

    Alasai said: “We planned this comprehensive medical outreach for the elderly people in this place to cover eye care, provision of drugs, cardiac and ECG, blood sugar test, malaria, and comprehensive heart evaluation. There is also a mental health evaluation station.

    “The society is changing and the care for the elderly is not what it used to be, people no more care for the elderly ones. It is a wakeup call to the fact that there is no limit to what people can do to save the situation of elderly people.”

     

  • NHIS can’t work, says NMA

    NHIS can’t work, says NMA

    •HMOs to be re-accredited in July

    The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will not work as presently being operated, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) President Dr. Mike Ogorima said yesterday.

    He said only the formal sector still enjoying the scheme, thereby cutting off the informal sector.

    Ogorima spoke yesterday in Abuja at a one-day leadership  retreat for chief executives of tertiary health institutions with the theme: ”Strengthening healthcare delivery in Nigeria through efficient leadership.

    He said: “NHIS is not going to work the way it is. NHIS must be extended to the rural areas.”

    He noted that there must be community-based insurance scheme, stressing that for about 12 years now, it has only been the civil servants at the Federal level enjoying the NHIS.

    Ogorima said it was left for the rest of country to join the scheme at the state, local government and at the private sector levels.

    He explained that just like the daily contributions, the people in the informal sector could be made to contribute towards the scheme, though with the knowledge that the contributions are savings for the raining day.

    This, he said, would minimise out of pocket expenditure for healthcare delivery.

    But, as part of the efforts to make universal health coverage a reality in the country, NHIS Executive Secretary, Prof. Usman Yusuf, said all the Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) are expected to be reaccredited in July.

    The re-accredited process, according to him, will be used to weed the scheme.

  • NMA protests incessant attacks on members

    Doctor in Rivers State staged a peaceful protest yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on the need for government to protect their members from abductors and other criminals.

    The doctors, who wore black attires, marched to the Government House to register their complaints on recurrent attacks on their members.

    A female doctor at Braithwaite Memorial Specialists Hospital in Port Harcourt, Mrs. Florence Onua, was shot dead last Friday, while Dr Bob-Manuel Clerk is yet to be freed , a month after he was abducted.

    The Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chukwuemeka Woke, hosted the protesters.

    State Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Dr Datonye Alasia decried the attacks on health facilities and doctors.

    Alasia said: “It is a peaceful work. The essence is to make people realise that the human life should be given more value. We see that a lot of our youths are given to violent crime and they do it without conscience. They do it against community leaders, doctors and others.

    “At every level, everybody needs to know that the human life is valuable. We should all have the consciousness that the community should be free of crime.

    “Health care in the state is endangered because of violent attacks. When violence is carried out against a doctor, many other people suffer. When a nurse is kidnapped, the people she is going to attend to will be abandoned. There should be more proactive plans to make sure that the health facilities and personnel should be given adequate security.”

  • NMA commends Police in Ondo

    NMA commends Police in Ondo

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Ondo State Chapter has commended the Police Command in the state for its swift response in recovering member’s vehicle snatched by armed robbers.

    Dr Gbelega Dolani, Chairman of NMA in the state, who made commendation at a news conference on Tuesday in Akure, said the gallant performance of the police was worthy of commendation.

    Dolani said a Honda Accord car belonging to one of its members was snatched on April 30 at gun point in Oba- Ile area of Akure at 3.30p.m but the police recovered it hours after they were alerted.

    Dolani advised residents to always report crime, promptly, to the police to enable them do their jobs effectively and reduce crime to the barest minimum.

    “To us, doctors, this swift and gallant effort displayed by the police is worthy of commendation.

    ‘’We sincerely appreciate this effort of Ondo State Police Command, especially the Commissioner of Police, Hilda Ibifuro-Harrison.

    “From this incident, it shows that with appropriate and timely information, plus adequate security gadget, the Nigeria Police has the capacity to show excellence,” he said.

  • Kogi govt., NMA will resolve dispute amicably – official

    The Kogi Government said on Sunday that it would resolve its lingering dispute with striking medical doctors amicably.

    “The government is not at war with the doctors. We merely have a little disagreement and we are working toward resolving the issue amicably,” Mr Kingsley Fanwo, Director-General, Media and Strategy, told the News of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja.

    He said that government would explore peaceful means toward addressing the issues so as to ensure effective service delivery in the health sector.

    “Government has already declared its stance in a statement by the Head of Service, Mrs Kehinde Lawal; we have urged the doctors to have a humanitarian heart. Healthcare issues are about life, government will never trivialize them,” he said.

    He advised doctors to choose the path of negotiations and always have the patients in mind in all their actions.

    The aide said that government was prepared to listen to all grievances and give truthful positions, alleging that most critics were hiding behind the transparent curtains of political interests to subvert public interest.

    “Doctors are trained to save lives. They have been very cooperative and we want them to keep cooperating with government. We know they will not be happy to watch the sick die on account of pursuing an interest that could be resolved amicably.

    “We are appealing to doctors to go back to work and give government the benefit of the doubt,” Fanwo said.

    NAN reports that the doctors have been on strike over the non-payment of their salaries, with government threatening to sack any doctor absent from work on Monday, May 8.

    The state chapter of the NMA has, however, directed its members to disregard the threat, and vowed to stay off the hospitals until the demands were met.

    NMA, in a statement by its Chairman, Dr. Tijani Godwin, declared on Saturday that it would not be intimidated by the threats, and advised government to “do the needful”.

     

  • NMA asks FG to withdraw directive replacing striking doctors

    NMA asks FG to withdraw directive replacing striking doctors

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the threat by the Federal Ministry of Health to employ temporary doctors to replace resident doctors currently on a warning strike.
    The association made the demand in a statement by its President Prof. Mike Ogirima and Secretary-General, Dr Yusuf Sununu in Abuja yesterday.
    Members of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Wednesday, January 18, began a seven-day strike which is expected to end on Wednesday, January 25.
    NMA noted that the government made the threat in a circular issued on Thursday by the Director of Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health to Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Tertiary Hospitals.
    The association emphasised that members of NARD were on strike to enforce their unmet demands which bordered on the poor state of health of Nigerians and the welfare of its members.
    It identified the issues as unattractive poor working environments in public hospitals, which was continually weakening the health workforce through brain drain.
    It noted efforts to distort the harmony among healthcare workers by some individuals within the Federal Ministry of Health which were threatening to completely derail the health system.
    It said NARD was bothered by selective and biased implementation of the contents of various government circulars and agreements with regard to the remuneration of doctors.
    It described the alleged distortions as a perfect indication of a lack of political will to end the prolonged crisis in the health sector.
    It said NARD was also concerned about the delay in bringing out a white paper on the various postgraduate medical training programmes in Nigeria.
    “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,’’ NMA noted were among issues of concern to NARD.
    The association said that the issues in dispute had already been resolved at meetings mediated by Speaker, Yakubu Dogara in 2016.
    It said: “Agreements with timelines for implementation were reached with the Federal Ministry of Health, NARD and the NMA on 14th  July, 2016.
    ‘’Regrettably, these agreements and timelines have again been breached by the Federal Ministry of Health.
    “We, therefore, call on the Honourable Minister of Health to urgently and decisively deal with the saboteurs of government policies within the Federal Ministry.
    “It is expedient that government works urgently to sincerely address all the issues that are responsible for the ongoing crises in the Nigerian healthcare sector to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.’’
    It added: “NMA wishes to state explicitly that it will not fold its arms and watch the training of medical specialists and the healthcare system being desecrated by any individual or clique.
    “We shall exploit every means within the law to ensure that justice is done and that the Residency Training Programme, all doctors practising in Nigeria and the welfare of all healthcare workers are treated with the utmost seriousness they deserve.’’
    The association restated its commitment to ensure close monitoring of the developments and called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on government officials not to further jeopardise the health of Nigerians.

  • NMA pledges more support to freed Chibok girls

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has promised to sustain its efforts at providing specialist care to the released Chibok girls and other victims of insurgency.

    Dr Yusuf Sununu, the Secretary General of the association, made the pledge in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday (NAN) in Abuja.

    Sununu noted that the released Chibok girls were experiencing emotional and psychological torture, among other challenges.

    He assured that NMA has the right capacity to provide medicare services and special care that would guarantee better future for the victims.

    The general secretary identified areas of care to include psycho-social support, reintegrating them with their families, recommending necessary investigation, carrying out investigation, interpreting and recommending the desired services.

    “We can seat with parents, educate them on the need to accept their children no matter the condition. Their families must accept them and understand that they did not subject themselves to that.

    “For them to be reintegrated into the families parents must accept that those changes are there; must understand that they have passed through situations that may have changed their psychological outlook and behavior, among others,’’ he said.

    However, the scribe stressed that the victims needed full support and assistance of family members, governments and other philanthropists to be fully reintegrated into the society.

    Sununu explained that a lot of them were held in captivity without babies but came back with babies, noting that this must have exposed them to varying sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

    He said that they required thorough medical examination to ascertain if they have been infected with HIV, syphilis and other STDs.

    Sununu, who further noted that the girls were malnourished, however said the association would generate physical and laboratory investigation to ascertain the nutritional deficiency confronting them and make adequate replacement of those elements.

    “We have identified what their problems are, they have been in captivity for almost two years, separated from their families, undergo torture, also tormented by constant gunshot, bomb blasts, among others.

    “So, these nasty experiences can give them psychological stress. Since they have been released from captivity we have to look at this issue and find a way to address them headlong.

    “First, they must get assurance that their safety is guaranteed, they must undergo a thorough medical checkup with regard to STDs because some of them went there without babies but came back with babies.

    “They need to be screened for STDs, HIV, Syphilis, among others, that may be of health significant currently or in future,’’ Sununu noted.

    About 45 Chibok school girls had so far been rescued out of over 200 abducted in April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram insurgents.