The Ekiti State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently declare a state of emergency in the health sector.
The union also urged government at all levels to increase budgetary allocation to the sector by 15 per cent in compliance with Abuja Declaration to tackle the challenges plaguing the sector.
These were contained in a communiqué issued after NMA’s 26th annual general meeting (AGM) between August 5 and 11, 2023, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
The communiqué was jointly signed by the union’s Chairman, Dr. Babatunde Rosiji, and its Secretary, Dr. Moses Dada.
Reading the communiqué to reporters yesterday, Rosiji noted that the country’s health sector was in comatose and that the government should find a lasting solution to revive the ailing sector.
The chairman said the health sector lacked the infrastructural capacity and personnel to manage the health demands of Nigerians due to the inadequate funding and harsh working environment.
He added that the situation had forced doctors and other health practitioners to leave the country for Western countries.
Rosiji said the health sector had suffered neglect with public hospitals lacking requisite equipment for effective and efficient healthcare service delivery.
The communiqué also said: “The AGM observed that the subsidy removal, coupled with the declining value of the naira, has led to an astronomical increase in the cost of drugs and medical consumables. This, coupled with the prohibitive cost of transportation, is threatening delivery of qualitative health services as it is becoming increasingly difficult for health workers to commute daily to the hospitals and to keep medical services running uninterruptedly. Patients are now presenting very late to the hospital.
