President, Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Professor Mohammed Mohammed, National Secretary-General, Dr. Daiyabu Ibrahim with other other National Executive Council members of the association at the end of their NEC meeting in Jos.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has called the Federal and States’ Governments to issue circulars on harmonized retirement age for doctors and other health workers.
The Association expects the issuance of the circular that would ensure retirement age for consultants and doctors is pegged at 70 years, and 65 years for other healthcare workers in the country.
The Association in a communique jointly signed by its President, Professor Mohammed Mohammed, and National Secretary-General, Dr. Daiyabu Ibrahim at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting also frowned at the continued shortfall in salaries of clinical lecturers (Honorary Consultants), occasioned by non-payment of their salary with CONMESS (the consolidated salary structure for Medical and Dental Doctors in public service in Nigeria.)
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The communique issued at the end of the event with the theme, “Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and its Significance in Achieving Universal Health Coverage” resolved that “Government as well as critical stakeholders in healthcare sector should have strategic plans that will ensure all Nigerians have financial, geographical and functional access to quality healthcare.
“The various steps outlined in the Nigerian Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) should be properly followed, and MDCAN and other critical stakeholders should be involved for the delivery of quality healthcare to all Nigerians.
“Federal and States’ Governments should as a matter of urgency, address the age-long demand of Universal Applicability of CONMESS to all qualified Medical and Dental University Lecturers in the Colleges of Medicine/Health Sciences across the various Universities in the Country.”
MDCAN also asked that the increase in the number of medical students admitted should be followed up by deliberate efforts by the Federal Government, to increase human resources, and infrastructures such as classrooms, laboratories, and simulation laboratories be rapidly improved upon for effective training of medical students without compromising the expected standard.
The doctors further asked for the strengthening of the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Healthcare institutions, to ensure an adequate, skilled, and highly motivated health workforce.
