Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has said that having chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors (MDs) in acting capacity for several months is not healthy for the system.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of MDCAN, held from 24th to 28th of January in Enugu.
The NEC called on government agencies responsible for the appointment of CMDs/MDs to avoid the unnecessary delays which they said have recently characterised the appointment of substantive CMDs/MDs.
They decried the increasing threats to security of lives and properties which have continued unabated, adding that more worrisome is the upsurge in violent attacks on healthcare workers in their places of work, leading to deaths in some instances.
The consultants noted that various challenges facing the health sector which include but not limited to inadequate infrastructure; security threats; dearth of human resources and poor funding have remain largely unresolved by the government.
In their resolutions, they tasked the government on intensified efforts at resolving the security challenges in the country, towards a safe and conducive environment which will ultimately put the country on the part of sustained progress:
They charged the government on protection of health workers in their work environments, adding that government at all levels should develop holistic healthcare policies geared towards revamping the fast-deteriorating healthcare systems in the country.
Also, the consultants said In the interim, all efforts should be made to retain willing and productive consultants after the current age of retirement, as stop gap measure to cushion the effects of the massive brain drain in the health sector.
