The National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP) has called on the Federal and state government to favourably and legally incorporate telemedicine into the nation’s healthcare delivery system.
Peterside Starson Sofiri, president of NAGGMDP, made the call during the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, tagged Confluence NEC, Lokoja 2024, with the theme ‘The Role of Telemedicine in Enhancing the Health of Rural Dwellers and People with Disability (PWD).’
Sofiri defined telemedicine as the use of electronic communication and information technologies to provide healthcare services remotely, adding that it allows patients to consult with healthcare professionals and receive medical care without being physically present in the same location.
Sofiri advocated for the inclusion of telemedicine into medical curriculum and a favourable legislation to improve accessibility of vulnerable citizens to healthcare services in Nigeria, as he called for the inclusion of Telemedicine into the medical curriculum to address brain drain in Nigeria’s health sector.
“We are having this conversation to promote telemedicine as the best way to improve PWDs’ accessibility to healthcare services through a modern-day enablement. We want to improve on their accessibility to healthcare through telemedicine, considering their situation.
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“There is need to propose and formulate policies that will improve key stakeholders’ commitment to improve accessibility of PWDs to healthcare
“Telemedicine should be accessible to everyone especially the PWDs; when you have an ailment you should be able to pick up your phone and be diagnosed regardless of your location,” Sofiri said
According to him, “We are also discussing other matters concerning their welfare, how they are being treated in the society as well as their deprivation and inclusion in the system.
“In NAGGMDP, we have taken the issues affecting the PWDs as our social responsibility by establishing a foundation strictly for that purpose, to address their narratives, rights and welfare.
“Our Association has doctors all over the country in government health facilities in federal, state, local government and communities to drive this initiative.”
Earlier, Nkemakolam Stanley Ugoh, the Kogi Chairman of NAGGMDP, has stressed the need to legally incorporate telemedicine into the nation’s healthcare delivery system.
Ugoh equally opined that the legal incorporation of telemedicine into healthcare system, would address the negative effect of brain drain as healthcare workers continue to exit the country in their numbers.
He said: “As we explore the potential of telemedicine, let us recognise the various peculiar challenges confronting rural dwellers and PWDs such as poverty, stigmatisation, poor telecom and road networks, among others.
“We must strive for innovative solutions, collaborations, and actionable recommendations that will lead to improved healthcare especially those in hard-to-reach communities.”
In his lecture on ‘Cholera Outbreak in Nigeria as Call for Action’, Austin Ojotule, the State Epidemiologist, dwelt on the historical perspective, Nigerian situation and drivers of the cholera outbreak, adding that the vibro cholera infection is usually characterised by vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration, noting that it became a disease of global importance in 1817, with the current outbreak being the 7th.
He urged individuals, community, health workers, development partners and the government to play their roles in tackling the cholera outbreak in the country.
Ibrahim Arome, immediate past Board Chairman, Kogi State Disability Commission, commended NAGGMDP for the initiative to alleviating the plight of the PWDs. He called for the concerted efforts to create more awareness, make public buildings easily accessible, and also make sign language interpreters available in public places for the deaf impaired.
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