The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has called on the Federal Government to re-constitute the health sector reforms committee by introducing more health professionals of diverse backgrounds so as to achieve equitable representation.
While commending the establishment of the health sector reform programme committee under the chairmanship of Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, the PSN on the other hand regretted that of the 28 members, about 23 appear to be physicians while one pharmacist, a nurse, and a laboratory scientist were included.
The society in a statement signed and made available to BusinessDay by the president of PSN, Cyril Usifoh, opined that the Federal Government proposed health sector reform committee may just go the way of previous health sector reform projects and added the philosophy and execution plan was one and same.
Explaining further the statement reads: “During Obasanjo administration, the late Prof. Olu Akinkugbe, an emeritus Professor of Medicine led a health reform team which had a similar composition of physicians dominating overwhelmingly, but the final report was dead on arrival because the positions like what the Osinbajo committee will most likely bring on the table will be favourable to only physicians and that will make it unacceptable to the preponderance of health professionals and workers who make up over 90 percent of the membership of the health sector.
“Typical of the processes involved in the sharing of benefits packages, privileges, and resources in the health sector, the reform committee with over 85 percent presence of physicians already negates the rights and liberties of the majority of health workers in Nigeria. A committee of this nature has slots for the DG, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council, a lawyer, but not for an agency like NAFDAC which regulates all the drugs, medical devices, vaccines, medical equipment, chemicals among others which are the essential tools and commodities which drive any credible health system.
It is interesting that personalities like the director of hospital services of the FMOH, DG NACA, MD, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta who complement the overwhelming presence of physicians on the committee, other health professionals especially those in pharma manufacturing and importation have no place on the committee
“The configuration of the leadership of the health sector has been systematically mutilated over the last 37 years by physicians who dot all the nooks and crannies of our health endeavours. Global best practice does not place a premium on physician-CEO based concepts in healthcare in most modern parts of the world.”
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PSN in the release, therefore, stressed the need for the Vice-President, Osibanjo to realise that the major area that needs to be critically evaluated in the health sector remains the structure of its leadership, adding that since the obnoxious decree 10 of 1985 was enacted, physicians were placed in charge of the sector at all levels from the federal, state and LGA as well as the health institutions under their jurisdiction.
“Today as it stands, physicians believe skill acquisition and professional development must be the exclusive preserve of physicians while others cannot aspire to improve themselves through post-graduate programmes which impact. This is why NMA, the umbrella body of Physicians is opposed to Consultant Cadre for Pharmacists in Nigeria. Nigerian Physicians also insist they head Medical Laboratories in Nigeria even when several courts of the land have ruled that Medical Laboratory Scientists have a professional discretion to exercise in this regard.
“This abused potential also applies to nursing as it took a lackluster memo a few days ago from the FMOH to counsel the CMDs and MDs of FHIs to allow nurses to practice in their specialty areas.
“These challenges are the main reasons why our health systems have slipped to a rating of 187 out of 191 health systems from a golden era where health facilities like the UCH, Ibadan was rated one of the five top facilities in the Commonwealth
“We must return to the golden era which is also commonplace now that places seasoned administrators and managers of cognate experience in charge of hospitals and other strategic arms in the health sector as this gives health professionals, including physicians a leeway to attend to their areas of core competences in their chosen profession,’’ the statement added.
