Nigeria Health Commissioners’ Forum has lauded President Bola Tinubu for approved the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration to address exodus of Nigerian doctors abroad.
The thirty-six commissioners said the policy would help transform Nigeria’s health care human resource management and tame the exponential drifting of medical doctors to foreign countries.
This was contained in a communique issued on Friday by the Commissioners at their 3rd quarterly meeting and jointly signed by its Chairperson, who doubles as Ekiti State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oyebanji Filani and the Secretary, Dr Ahmed Amina Ahmed el-Imam.
They explained that the dearth of health practitioners in the country occasioned by brain drain makes it imperative for innovative strategies to be taken to attract, train and retain healthcare professionals in Nigeria.
The 36 commissioners reiterated their commitment to preparedness, enhanced surveillance and response, including pre-positioning of drugs, supplies and rapid response teams to contain any future outbreaks effectively
They called for strong control measures that could reinforce partnership with the the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to curtail spread of infectious diseases in the country.
The commissioners acknowledged the growing and alarming incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), notably hypertension, diabetes mellitus and renal diseases and the need for increased awareness, prevention, and treatment options.
The communiqué reads in part: “The Commissioners reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening primary healthcare (PHC) as the cornerstone of the Nigerian healthcare system. Emphasis was placed on ensuring adequate staffing, training, and the provision of essential medicines and equipment to improve service delivery at the grassroots level.
“We considered the recent Supreme Court judgment on Local Government Financial Autonomy appraising implications for PHC Financing in Nigeria. A sub-committee was constituted to develop a position paper in consultation with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare”.
“The Commissioners advocated increased budgetary allocations to health at both state and federal levels, across the primary, secondary and tertiary and explore alternative funding mechanisms to ensure that all Nigerians have access to affordable and quality healthcare.
“The Commissioners extolled the stellar leadership of Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammed Ali Pate and the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, re-iterating commitments to explore ways of operationalizing the proposed digital health solutions for data-driven decision-making in States.”
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
