National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDT) has appealed to governments at all levels to prevent the collapse of the health sector.
It said the present situation portends danger to current generations now and those yet unborn.
Its president, Dr Noel Dokun, who stated this yesterday at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the association, with the theme: ‘The Role of General Practitioners in Nation Building,” in Abuja, said the members converged in the FCT to deliberate on health issues confronting them, especially the emergence of viral illness of which COVID-19 and lately monkeypox are parts.
He said general doctors are the gateway to the health of the citizens of the country, adding that they are the first to be seen by anyone who comes to the hospital to seek treatment.
“We are the fabric that holds the health of Nigerians together otherwise the entire population of the country would be at the mercy of quacks.
“NAGGMDP members diagnose and determine the extent and direction to which the treatment should go. Much as we are important in the health chain, we are underrated in this country with emphasis being laid elsewhere. The membership of the association populates the primary and secondary level of health which has been neglected by successive government to the extent that our members are leaving in droves.”
Dokun said as at June this year, an estimate of over 2000 doctors have left the shores of this country to Europe Saudi and Canada where their service is better appreciated especially in the NHS system in Britain since they are poorly remunerated and at times not paid for month in some states.
While faulting the recent claim by the minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, that there are enough doctors in the country, Dokun said, “Between 2019 and now, we have had more than triple the number of doctors that have left the country.
“We only know about the documented ones. Within the past nine months, we have had 2,000 doctors that have been registered by the NHS. There are some that are not documented, there are some that are yet to be registered and how many medical schools do we have in Nigeria?
“The hospitals are all crying that there are no enough doctors yet somebody who is heading the hospital is saying there are enough doctors. Are they manufactured in a workshop or somewhere? he added.
