COMMUNIQUE AT THE END OF THE ANNUAL DELEGATES MEETING AND SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF THE NIGERIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HELD AT THE EKO HOTELS AND SUITES, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS FROM WEDNESDAY 23RD MAY 2007 TO FRIDAY 25TH MAY 2007

PREAMBLE

The 2007 edition of the Annual Delegates Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, from Wednesday 23rd May 2007 to Friday 25th May 2007. The conference was declared opened by the Executive Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. The theme of the conference was “Millennium Development Goals - The Journey So Far”

His Excellency said the theme was auspicious since we are midway to the end of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) termination date of year 2015 and enjoined the conference to do a proper midterm review of the achievements of the MDG’s, appraise the problems militating against the full realization of the MDG and proffer possible solutions as it concerns its health components.

The President of the NMA, Dr. Dan Gana in his opening remarks reiterated the resolve of members to see to the full realization of the health components of the MDG but lamented the unfavourable conditions under which Nigerian doctors work. He called on the government once again to take the issue of infrastructural decay in the health sector and poor remuneration for doctors seriously if the MDG targets were to be realized. He also opined that water, good sanitation and constant energy supply must be aggressively addressed by our governments if meaningful improvement in our poor health indices, which remain one of the worst in the world, are to be achieved for the benefit of our citizens.

RESOLUTIONS

After an exhaustive discussion and based on consensus, the following resolutions were reached.

1. The conference congratulates the newly elected President, Alhaji Umar Yar` Adua and his deputy Dr. Jonathan Goodluck and sincerely hope that under their collective leadership Nigerians will witness unprecedented development of our ailing health sector as the success of their tenure will be judged by efforts at ensuring drastic reduction in infant and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, malaria and increased life expectancy of our people. The NMA expresses her willingness to assist government to draw up people-oriented healthcare delivery policies and programmes for our citizens.

2. Congress however noted the various observations of the national and international observers which concluded that the conduct of the elections fell short of expectations and perhaps one of the worst in our political history. We are expressing confidence in our judicial system, which seemed to have woken up to its responsibilities, at the twilight of the last administration as the last hope of the common man and sincerely hope that the various Election Petition Tribunals will uphold justice. The N.M.A advises the declared winners to be magnanimous in their victory and losers to employ constitutional means of seeking redress at these tribunals.

3. The Association noted that a major health policy trust of the past administration was the refurbishment of selected tertiary health institutions. In as much as the association supports any improvement in our infrastructure in all tertiary health institutions, such approach and methodology has however failed to meet the yearnings and aspirations of our people. It is on record to note that low capacity utilization of the high-end technological equipments have been the bane, while some of them are not fully functional in the face of erratic power supply which needs to be addressed. While standardization of medical equipments are desirable the over concentration of this project in one hand needs much to be desired.

4. The conference notes and condemns the penchant by government officials to use taxpayer’s money for overseas medical treatment and sees this as the self-indictment of the government lip service to revamping the health sector. It is on record that government sponsors top officials for overseas medicare for ailments that can successfully be tackled within the present health system for Nigerians who do not have access to public money. What a waste and drain! The association challenges the new administration to tackle head on the issue of brain drain affecting our health professionals and convert such to brain gain. 5. The association wishes to state that health like justice, national economic management should be headed by fully trained professionals conversant with the workings of this specialized area. The Association decries government penchant for appointing non-medical professionals to head the health ministries at both state and federal levels. NMA will therefore reject in its entirety any attempt to foster on the Health Ministries non-medically qualified persons as Ministers or commissioners. There can not be meaningful progress in the Health Sector without Clinical Governance which can only be provided by medical professionals.

6. The Association noted the commendable zeal with which NAFDAC has been fighting fake and adulterated drugs, the association wishes to remind NAFDAC about its lack of mandate on clinical issues and advise its leadership to desist from further forays and pronouncements on issues they lack competence and enabling laws to tackle. A case in point is on the issue of quackery and regulation of Medical Practice which only the Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has the competence and statutory responsibility to handle.

The Association supports the stand of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) that drugs in Nigeria should not be sold in the open market and by unqualified personnel while efforts at ensuring ethical access to drugs should be aggressively pursued. We recommend professional distribution channels for drugs and poisons as obtained in other civilized parts of the world.

7. The conference calls on the government to provide the MDCN with the wherewithal to carry out its statutory functions more effectively. The federal government should as a matter of urgency reclassify the MDCN into a category “A” parastatal.

8. The conference urges the new National Assembly to give priority attention to the passage of all health related bills which were largely unattended to in the last dispensation by their lukewarmness to health matters as health is wealth.

9. The NMA strongly appeal to the new management of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on the need for an all stakeholders forum after two years of operation as there has been reports of serious dissatisfaction with the running of the scheme. As we do not want a case of “you give me peanuts, I give you monkeys” and all legs of the tripod that holds the scheme must be held straight otherwise the scheme will collapse in no time.

10. Members of the NMA strongly advise Government not to implement the CONTISS or revised CONTISS salary structure in any Hospital or Health institution in Nigeria in its present format. The NMA hereby expect Government to reintroduce the MSS/MSSS and the consolidated MSS salary structure in the country as failure to do so will invite industrial unrest in the Health Sector and further drive our skilled manpower overseas.

Dr. Daniel Gana, mni
President