The Nigerian Medical Association has urged the next  minister of health to  improve  primary health care. The President of the association, Prof Francis Faduyile, said this  in an interview with our correspondent. He said,  “Improving the health sector has a lot to do with those in the state ministry of health. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency has been supported by the Federal Government.

 

“However, we expect states  to make their  primary health centres more stable to get the normal complement of staff and ensure they are functional.” The NMA chief  also called for  the National Health Insurance Scheme to be made compulsory for all Nigerians.

 

Faduyile said, “Again, we want the ministry in the health system to look into the health insurance scheme. Each  time, we talk about low funding for health. The health insurance scheme is another means of getting  money  for the health system. We want them to see how the health insurance scheme can be made compulsory for everybody and how we can have a lot of this comprehensive health insurance scheme to complement the funding to health.”

He stressed the need for industrial harmony, inter-professional harmony among  professionals in the health sector.

 

Faduyile said, “The time that everybody goes and get one ‘paper’ or circular to create crisis should be over. We should be able to dissect every ‘paper’ and be able to see how we want to improve our patients’ health, because that is why all of us are here. It is not a beauty contest, it is about the patients and I think the ministries need to focus on that.”

 

Also, the Publicity Secretary of the association in Lagos, Dr Moruf Abdulsalam, said the next  Commissioner for Health in Lagos State should focus on how to reduce medical tourism in the state.

 

He said, “There are so many issues affecting the medical sector in Lagos in which brain drain is top of them. The next commissioner should devise means of making medical doctors stay in the state. Whatever can be done to keep our doctors at home should be done.”