by Maureen Okonkwo

One of the demands the NMA has put forward is the increase in hazard allowance which currently stands at N5,000 a month- let me explain this, at d risk of getting HIV, Ebola, hepatitis etc as a health professional while carrying out your duty, you get 5k for your trouble.

I’d like to clarify a few points on the reasons the federal government gave as to why they sacked resident doctors.

1- There was a strike in December, at the end of which, an MoU was signed between these same parties and the FG assured that it will implement once the 2014 Budget was passed. The Budget has since been passed, still the agreement was not implemented. We almost bit off d head of the chairman then because we were sure FG would not keep its promise. The NMA leadership chose to err on the side of caution and waited 6 whole months, just for the FG to prove us right as they always do and not honour their agreements.

2- The FG was given a notice of the strike action on the 11th of June and they waited till the dawn of the due date of the strike to call a meeting hoping to reach a compromise then? This leaves much to be said for its seriousness when they had had over half a year to dialogue and did nothing.

3- Can someone explain to me the reason why FG picked on residents and the residency training programme in particular? Doing this is akin to ASUU going on strike and you decide to sack only senior lecturers. This will definitely over time kill the medical profession.

4- It is said that education isn’t only about going through school you also have to let the school go through you. In this day and age when countries are fighting to progress and build their nations, our president (an educationist I might add) is throwing us into an abyss and drawing us backward. Doctors used to be sent to the UK or US to specialize on the government purse a few years back and still do for some very technical specialities. Sad that now when we can train ours here, however meagre it is, the FG is seeking to throw it all away as the brain drain that will follow this mass sack is definitely coming.

What happens when the present crop of specialists pass on or leave the country? Where would that leaves us if they don’t pass on their skills to people they train?

Government officials would get on the nearest plane and sail off for specialist care as they are wont to do while the masses get mediocre care at best and even that is to be denied them?

The Nigerian population stands at about 1 doctor to 2000 people at best and that is over estimating and not counting the inequality of distribution in urban and rural areas. Yet the FG still desires to further aggravate that number as brain drain will most likely increase. An average resident doctor sees at least 200 patients a week and that’s being modest. Multiply that by 16,000 and imagine how many Nigerians won’t be getting healthcare or be forced into the hands of quacks.

One of the demands the NMA has put forward is the increase in hazard allowance which currently stands at N5,000 a month – let me explain this, at the risk of getting HIV, Ebola, hepatitis, etc as a health professional while carrying out your duty you get 5k for your trouble. Not that you can put a price tag on life but I can assure you on this: that sum can’t buy your drugs for a month!

Who were the first people to die in this Ebola crisis? A doctor and nurses for 5k and you think health workers will want to come running to the rescue in their white super hero capes?

Way forward- as always we tend to copy things from other countries be it the Uk or US- the least we can do is copy it right! God knows this country needs to be revamped!

To quell the problem in the health sector let us study how it works in other countries and why it works! Everyone can be a specialist in their own profession as long as they get the adequate training and remain within their own professional limits! You can’t have a consultant nurse prescribing certain medications or selling drugs, or a consultant medical laboratory scientist extracting teeth which is d order of the day as things stand in Nigeria, dangerous medications can be bought from shops from people who don’t even have a clue what the drugs can do!

Doctors use their certificates to open clinics for quacks who milk sick people for all they have before referring them to the teaching hospitals for care n we wonder why our casualty rates are high?

The legal system needs to be alive to its responsibilities and throw away the adage of justice being a mill that grinds slowly because in Nigeria its not grinding at all, least of all surely! Nigerians should be aware of their rights and should be able to sue for damages if mismanaged or handled by people who were not fit to manage their cases.

The Pharmacists Association of Nigeria PAN needs to clean up the drug sector with the law backing them- shut down all those chemist shops or restrict them to selling only over the counter drugs. Prescription mediations should be bought with prescriptions only and sold only by certified pharmacists and traceable! A doctor has no business selling drugs. If you own a hospital and want to sell drugs employ a pharmacist simple! Where patient-care is concerned the doctor is the head of the team- team here being the notable word were everyone is important and nobody knows all and should discuss as a team to better manage the patient and not squabble over superiority everyone has his place. If a surgeon does the finest procedure and the patient does not get adequate nursing care or proper dietary care and dies that surgery won’t make the history books or relatives happy and is at best a waste!

The patient’s well-being is paramount here because that’s the reason they are all there in the first place and that’s the most important person in all this. If its too hot get out of the kitchen and find somewhere else to work

But then again these are merely the musings of an idealist hoping the FG can see, think and implement appropriate changes without bringing politics into it and ruining even the most simple things. In life no one person is least important and no one person is too important. HEALTH IS WEALTH and you can’t buy life back once lost. The FG should note that Ebola is one disease with which you won’t be welcomed into any country with open hands should you get it even with all the wealth of the country behind you! Plus it affects the rich the poor the old the young all alike! So better be careful when making the next decision or taking the next step!

PS- the FG should also know to invest in research and not throw money at problems in form of bribes!

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