The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has condemned the current practice of casualisation of health workers by the Lagos State Government, and called for the immediate end to the practice. This is contained in a communiqué issued by the NMA at the end of its National Executive Council Meeting held at Awka, Anambra State. A copy of the communiqué signed by its President, Kayode Obembe, and Secretary, Adewumi Alakayi, was made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday. The NMA however regretted the controversies that have trailed the proposal for the establishment of the Surgeon General of the Federation. It however noted that, “the office, if established, would have had a nationwide structure in place to promote enforcement of public health issues and even lead the “command force” against public health emergencies before the advent of EVD. “NEC relishes the support for this office by President Goodluck Jonathan, and now urges him to take every step necessary to actualise this in the overall interest of the nation, appreciative of the just concluded National Conference for supporting this proposal by including it as one of the over 600 proposals it made to the nation,” the NMA said. The NMA however vowed that it would continue to remain committed to the health of Nigerians, and ready to work with governments and her agencies with the aim of joining forces and developing strategic actions to prevent the introduction and/or spread of EVD in other parts of the country. “In response to the current outbreak, the NMA has put in place the National EVD Response Committee headed by a renowned Public Health Physician, Prof. Michael C. Asuzu, and similar committees at the state level. “The NMA has mandated these committees to continue to liaise with their government counterparts to synergise their responses for the containment and treatment of any outbreak of the Ebola virus in various parts of the country. “NMA urged Nigerians, especially those in “at-risk” states and in other states not to panic but rather keep safe by seeking best practices, collaboration, and advocacy about what constitute the risks and sources of contracting EVD. “To this end, the NMA is currently developing useful educational documents to inform and guide healthcare workers and the general public regarding EVD. These will be made available to the general public as soon as they are ready. “NEC commended the efforts of the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government so far in containing the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak, and attempts at establishing isolation centres in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). “However, it was observed that the essential structures and framework for containing the outbreak on a national scale are yet to be in place, particularly at the state and local government levels. NEC therefore calls on Federal Government to take a step further in ensuring the creation of functional EVD control committees at all levels of government,” the NMA said. The group, however, commended President Goodluck Jonathan “for the Federal Government’s N1.9 billion Ebola intervention plan, and Aliko Dangote, for the donation of N152, 956, 250.00 for the establishment of a National Ebola Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Yaba, Lagos, all in an effort to control and halt the spread of the deadly contagious EVD. The NMA also urged all states and local governments as well as other spirited individuals to make similar financial commitments to ensure the availability of essential materials and smooth logistic operations. “NEC was deeply concerned that many states are yet to establish reliable isolation facilities, proper ambulance vehicles for conveying suspected cases to the isolation facilities and the unavailability of personal protective equipment (PPE) in quantities that could guarantee their use at all times as indicated,” the NMA stated.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 18:20:55 +0000
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