The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday, directed the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire to look into ways of turning the brain drain bedeviling the country’s health sector into brain gain by engaging top Nigerian medical experts in the diaspora in knowledge and skills repatriation.
Buhari said that the Federal Government was addressing the ‘brain drain’ in the health sector caused by the massive exodus of medical practitioners from Nigeria to other countries.
The president said the FG has so far disbursed N100bn to indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare investors as loans to expand their capital base and boost local production of medicines and consumables.
According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari said this when he received the new executive members of the Nigerian Medical Association, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He urged the association and other stakeholders in the health sector to support initiatives by the Federal Government and work with the Committees set up to chart a fast track to a health system that best meets the needs of Nigerians in the 21st Century.
The President also commended the NMA, which is the umbrella body of all medical practitioners in Nigeria, for consistently choosing the peaceful resolution of differences on matters pertinent to the national health system.
‘‘I commend our medical professionals for their contribution to Nigeria’s exemplary management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the control of malaria, HIV, and Tuberculosis, and other feats also achieved by Nigerian doctors in the diaspora.
‘‘Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised internationally and your members are key parts of this success.
‘‘I recall that in the last quarter of 2021, the immediate past NMA Executives visited me and presented recommendations for the health sector, which included, the review and amendment of the National Health Insurance Scheme Act; upgrading and equipping existing health institutions; loans to fund hospital equipment; the repeal and re-enactment of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act; and Appeal for more funding for the four newly established Universities of Medical Sciences.
‘‘I am pleased to inform you that most of these recommendations have been addressed, whilst further action is being taken to study those involving cross-cutting administrative processes with legal implications,’’ Buhari said.
The President also used the occasion to congratulate a former President of the body, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, the President-elect of the World Medical Association, the first Nigerian to hold the position.
While wishing him a successful tenure, the President expressed hope that Enabulele would use his position to support improvement in health care delivery in Nigeria and lower-income countries.
He also wished the new executive members of NMA a successful tenure, urging them to earnestly continue to serve as arbiters of peace and progress.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who led the medical practitioners to the audience, affirmed that the doctors have been good partners with his ministry, helping to regulate the health profession as well as providing quality healthcare services.
In his remarks, the President of the NMA, Dr. Uche Rowland Ojinmah, said the new National Officers Committee was elected on the 21st of May, 2022. He commended President Buhari for his assent to the National Health Insurance Authority Act, noting that it will help “improve the health indices of our nation”.
Dr. Ojinmah enjoined the president to ensure full and appropriate implementation of the NHIA Act; provision of “adequate work equipment, conducive work environment, and necessary budget support;” as well as elongation of the retirement age for medical consultants to 70 years and 65 years for non-consultant doctors and other healthcare workers.
Others include implementation of the Hazard Allowance circularised in December 2021 with the arrears; as well as the setting up of a Health Bank.
