Gov. Ugwuanyi pledges support to NMA for improved healthcare

The Enugu State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has affirmed his support to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in its efforts to improved healthcare delivery in the country.

Gov. Ugwuanyi, who spoke at the NMA conference in Enu­gu yesterday, restated the resolve of the state government to part­ner with the association in cham­pioning the cause of better health care in the state and the rest of the country.

Ugwuanyi spoke through the state’s commissioner of Health, Dr Sam Ngwu, who represented him during the official opening cere­mony of the ongoing 2016 NMA conference – holding at the Tos­cana Villa Hotel in Enugu.

The Governor noted that the theme of the conference, “Mak­ing the National Health Act Oper­ational”, was very timely indeed – because Nigerians deserve better health services in all ramifications.

Earlier in his address, the President of the NMA, Dr Mike Ogirima, said the association will use the opportunity of the 2016 conference to review strategies for tackling the various challeng­es confronting the association.

His words: “In the last four months of our administration, a lot is being done to launder the image of the medical practition­ers through advocacy visits and courtesy calls on stakeholders of the medical industry”.

Ogirima said that his lead­ership would leave no stone un­turned in solving the multifacet­ed problems militating against the health care delivery system in the country, as well as the welfare of the practitioners.

He stated: “We are building bridges across various divides in the health sector as we inter­act with pharmacists, nurses and midwives and other profession­als that make up the health team. We are more proactive in issues as they arrive. The NMA, under my leadership, intends to harmonise the diverse opinions of doctors, working hard in various levels of practice across various divides – government, private, federal, states to local governments; gen­eral duty doctors, resident doctors to consultants”.

The NMA President also promised to work hard to reduce the problems of inter professional rivalries in the sector, as the health of the patient would be made cen­tral to their calling as care-givers.

The Enugu state chairman of NMA, Dr Cajethan Onyedum, also commended the theme of the conference as an effort to adopt a holistic approach towards the res­olution of the myriads of prob­lems confronting the health sec­tor.

He expressed gratitude to members of NMA in Enugu State for their sacrifice, prayers and un­flinching support to his leader­ship in hosting the 2016 NMA conference.

NMA Conference X-rays the National Health Act

The environment was the cosy conference hall of the Villa Toscana Hotel Enugu. It was con­ducive for the business at hand. Dateline: Thursday August 25, 2016. The theme, Making the National Health Act Operation­al, was apt for the current health care challenges in the country.

For the doctors, who aban­doned their hospitals and clinics temporarily, it was an occasion to examine the big picture: which is how to make the National Health Act of 2004 work for the benefit of the country.

The hall was well prepared for the occasion. Chilling cooling system, flashing lights of different colours, well decorated high table and chairs, spruced up the entire hall as a place to discuss such an important issue.

It was under this serene at­mosphere that the opening cer­emony started by 11.15am, a few hours behind the scheduled time of 8.30am. The Chairman of the occasion was Professor Ernest N. Onwasigwe, the Provost, College of Medicine, University of Nige­ria.

The Keynote Speaker was Dr. Osahan Enabulele, past Pres­ident of the Association and the Vice President, Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA). The Enugu state Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was slated as the Special Guest of Honour.

In his welcome address, the Chairman Enugu state NMA Dr. Cajetan Onyedum said that the theme of the conference was care­fully chosen. “Making the Nation­al Health Act Operational is an ef­fort to adopt a holistic approach towards the resolution of the myr­iads of problems confronting the health sector”, he declared.

According to him, “As leaders in this area, we thought it was wise to broach this issue from the par­adigm shift of no longer tackling specific health issues singly, but adopting measures whose inter­vention in the sector is systemic”.

The President of the Nigeri­an Medical Association, Dr. Mike Ozovehe Ogirima in his address, said that the theme “was borne out of the desire to equipping us with the provisions of the NHA which was passed in 2004”.

Many other interesting and important papers were delivered and discussed at the conference on the opening day – all aimed at examining ways of boosting healthcare delivery in the country.