The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a Medical Doctor, especially a Family Medicine Physician, as the Health Minister when he eventually unveils his executive team later this month.

 

The President of the association, Dr. Omo-Ehijiele Frank Odafen, who made the call during the graduation ceremony of the diplomate in Family Medicine at the Post Graduate Medical College, Ijaniki, said the most ideal specialty in medicine to man the ministry was a Family Medicine Physician because of the specialty’s expanded knowledge of health issues.

 

According to him, over 80 per cent of patients in the country patronise private hospitals because of timeliness to treatment – a major reason why the specialty was very key to the success the Ministry of Health under President Buhari would achieve.

 

“Only a Family Physician can solve about 80 per cent of the issues of patients, which means someone who understands about 80 per cent of health issues and can directly solve them should be given the job because that specialty is most qualified for it,” he added.

 

Although he noted that medical doctors in any of the specialties in medicine were qualified to hold the position and that AGPMPN would work with any doctor in any specialty the President chooses to appoint, he stressed that he was recommending Family Medicine Physicians because they have multifaceted skills in the area of medicine and general healthcare.

 

“Having said that, in the spirit of Private-Public Partnership which is the only robust way to deliver quality healthcare, we have already designed a document which will be given to the incoming Minister, so he or she can hit the ground running,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, the President said the Postgraduate Medical College was graduating over 360 family physicians because the country was in dare need of their expertise, adding that AGPMPN wants its members to continuously acquire new knowledge, as well as unlearn old techniques while embracing new techniques of healthcare delivery.

 

 

“So, as an association, we want Nigerians to enjoy very robust health and the only way to achieve this, is by encouraging medical doctors, in every nuke and cranny of this country to deliver qualitative healthcare, and this can only be ensured when they embrace new skill that is comparable with global standard in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery system. Training in Family Medicine is one way to achieve this.

 

“Family Medicine is the gateway of healthcare delivery, hence this graduation is laudable to us. That is why, to show good example, I as the President, enrolled in the programme, same for the Secretary General, and other members of the executives to show nationally that qualitative and affordable healthcare delivery is our motto.

 

“Family medicine physicians in Nigeria are about 800. We had about 400 plus before, and today, the school of Post Graduate Medicine graduated about 360. So we intend to build on this, such that every year from now on, there will be graduants. Our goal is to see that every family in the country will have a family physician assigned to them,” he added.

 

On what the impact of family medicine training would have on Nigeria’s healthcare system, he noted that with family physicians, every patient, irrespective of gender, disease condition, age, social, economic and political inclination can be sure of being attended to, unless the health issue requires a particular skill which was outside that of the family physician.

 

“In family medicine, out treatment is holistic, we apply bio-social medical approach to our treatment. The illness of every patient has an impact on somebody, either family, neigbhours, workplace or the society, and by extension, every illness has one form of economic impact on the economy of a nation. So, we can therefore not undermine the importance of the specialty in building a very healthy and robust state,” he stated.

 

While encouraging medical doctors to specialise in family medicine, Odafen noted that any doctor who wants to save lives in large scale must think about family medicine as over 80 per cent of Nigerians patronise them first, before thinking of any other specialty.

 

“It is important that Nigerian doctors embrace family medicine. Even among our graduants today, some are already specialised in other areas of medicine, yet, they still enrolled in this specialty because they have seen the importance of it to delivering healthcare in the country.

 

“Like in Britain and other advanced countries, for you to practise as a private practitioner, you must first have specialty in family medicine, because people who visit hospitals come with various problems. So a family physician will know what appropriate care the person should get and then deploy the skill to the management of the health issue, and if it exceeds his or her skill, then the patient is referred to the appropriate specialty,” he said.

 

He also added that in terms of primary healthcare delivery, the country has improved. “Before now, maternal mortality rate in the country was abysmally poor, same for other primary health issues, but because of the emphasis we have been laying on primary healthcare, things are getting better. Look at polio for instance, we have virtually eradicated it. Within the next 24 months, the World Health Organisation is going to certify us polio free. Same success has been recorded in terms of measles.

 

“Recently, Ban ki Moon was in Nigeria, and he specifically applauded our efforts in polio elimination. If you go to hospitals, immunizations are going on. That is primary healthcare, and the people that hold the ace in this regard are family health physicians,” he stated.

 

By Martins Ifijeh

This Day