President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja said
the federal government was considering an upward review of budgetary allocation
to the health sector in order to improve the quality and access to medical
facilities across the country.
In a statement, Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari who received the new
executive of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) at the State House, added
that the review of the budgetary allocation would reflect the government’s
priority of ensuring that Nigerians get better healthcare, especially in
specialized areas.
“We place
quality healthcare on our priority list, and we are already marching on with
the Primary Health Care services and some state governors have bought into it.
We are committed to universal health care,’’ he quoted the president as saying.
According to the statement, the president assured
the leaders of the NMA that the White Paper from the Ahmed Yayale-led panel
report on Inter-professional Harmony in the Healthcare Sector was already being
considered by the government to ensure more organised and harmonised working
relationships among medical practitioners.
He also said Buhari urged the medical practitioners
to always consider their profession as
“divine call’’ especially in taking decisions that directly impact on
the lives of Nigerians, adding that other means of negotiation for better
working conditions should be explored instead of strikes.
“The medical profession is regarded as a divine
call because of the strategic role you play in the lives of human beings,’’ he
was further quoted.
Adesina said the president commended the NMA and
its members on some of the medical feats being achieved in Nigeria such as the
separation of conjoined twins, organ transplants, heart surgeries and treatment
of cancer patients.
He also said Buhari noted that the Nigerian Medical
and Dental Council would soon be constituted to further enhance service
delivery and regulation of the sector.
The president's spokesman added that the Minister
of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ohanire, observed that a newly released basic
health care provision would further focus on improving service delivery to
Nigerians through the Primary Health Care.
The statement added: "The President of the
NMA, Dr Francis Adedayo, commended President Buhari for including members of
the NMA in the Federal Executive Council and signing of the Medical Residency
Training Act into law.
"Adedayo urged the federal government to
improve the budgetary allocation to the health sector as required by the Abuja
Declaration which sets a benchmark of 15 per cent.
"He said the speedy processing of the Ahmed
Yayale report on harmony among practitioners in the medical sector will go a
long way in enhancing service delivery and better working relationships.
"The NMA president said the association had already
reached out to the National Emergency Management Agency for stronger
partnership in providing care for victims of disasters."
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