A Consultant Surgeon at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Professor Kunle Olawepo, has advocated the need for the National Assembly to ban medical tourism for top government officials.
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This he said, would enable political office holders, starting from the President to have first hand information and knowledge about the deplorable conditions of the country’s health sector.
Professor Olawepo, who is the President, Nigerian Orthopaedic Association, stated this while reacting to the strike embarked upon by resident doctors that the state of healthcare delivery in the country is deplorable because Government is shacking its responsibilities in the sector.
According to him, the President just returned from the United Kingdom on Medical check-up, saying that he has never heard about the Prime Minister of UK or President of United States going abroad or other country for check up.
When asked of the factors responsible for incessant strikes in the health sector, the medical expert attributed them to a long harrowing process of complaints, lamentations and frustration occasioned by excessive workload on Doctors, unfriendly working environment, non-availability of optimal appropriate work tools and inadequate remuneration.
He said ” the state of healthcare delivery in the country is deplorable because Government is shacking its responsibilities in the sector. Our President just returned from the UK on Medical check-up. Have you ever heard about the Prime Minister of UK or President of US going abroad for check up? He who wears the shoe knows where it pinches! ”
” If top Government functionaries attend public health facilities in the Country, then they will see 1st hand the true state of affairs and can therefore agree to a need for overhaul”
” Strikes are the endpoint of a long harrowing process of complaints, lamentations and frustration occasioned by excessive workload on Doctors, unfriendly work environment, non-availability of optimal appropriate work tools and inadequate remuneration which is even reducing on a monthly basis for no reasons whatsoever.
“All of these and inconsistent Government policies and audacious draconian circulars together with lack of Commitment to honour agreement freely entered into by Government are factors responsible for what has turned out to be incessant Strikes by Resident and other groups of Doctors“, Olawepo said further .
The Consultant Surgeon and a former Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association in Kwara State, therefore stressed the need for government to go back to the original drawing board where Doctor-patient ratio is respected, with adequate budgeting for health sector and adherence to WHO recommendations or African charter agreement.
According to him ” going back to the original drawing board where Doctor:patient ratio is respected, adequate budgeting for health and adherence to WHO recommendations or African charter agreement, a friendly and healthy work environment, provision of necessary equipment, ensuring that government functionaries attend public hospitals and adequate remuneration for workers shall go a long way in fixing the mess that the health sector has become”.
Professor Olawepo, noted that though strike is not right for Doctors or any other health worker, but government should not wait until they embark on strike before attending to their demands, pointing out that issues must be resolved from the foundation.
He said ” Health is essential service just like Military and Police. It is not right for Doctors or any other health worker to go on strike but issues must be resolved from the foundation; treat the cause and not the effect. Once the foundation is right, every other thing naturally falls in place! Even the Military and Police and even in the so called developed Countries go on strike. Criminalising strikes won’t put an end to it. Do the right thing and everything falls in line“.
