The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is working towards creating a minimum benchmark for remuneration of doctors in the country.

President of the association, Prof. Bala Audu, made the disclosure Saturday while briefing newsmen on the communique issued at the end of the third National Health Summit and National Executive Council ( NEC) meeting of the association in Abuja. The summit was themed “Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria: Translating Policies to Impact”.

He said the NEC observed with concern the disparity in remuneration of doctors in Nigeria especially those working in state governments, private institutions and some Ministries Departments and Agencies
(MDAs).

He said creating a minimum benchmark of remuneration for doctors would help tackle mass migration of doctors outside the country popularly called ‘japa’ .

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He said, “It is a strategy that will help Nigeria retain its critical health care workforce and prevent the ongoing ‘japa’ syndrome. What it seeks to do is to ensure that every registered doctor who is licensed by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria ( MDCN) has a minimum remuneration benchmark that you cannot go below, whether the individual is employed in the public sector or in the private sector.

“And even in the public sector, whether the individual is employed by federal, state or local government, and even within those sectors, whether the individual is employed in a primary health sector, hospitals or in other departments and agencies that require the services of a doctor, such as university lecturers, and others such as customs and other security agencies who employ doctors. Everyone must comply with that minimum benchmark. It will produce stability, so this is the essence. ”

He said the move was also geared towards tackling internal brain drain, adding, “where doctors don’t want to serve in local governments, because the pay package is not as good as in state governments, or where some doctors leave state government hospitals to go and work in federal hospitals when they are actually needed more in the state hospitals.”

He said the summit noted with concern the absence of a comprehensive emergency training for all doctors in the country and emphasized that there was a need to equip medical workers and the health workforce with emergency and lifesaving skills to ensure a quick and effective response to medical emergencies.

The NMA president said the summit resolved to ensure strategic engagement and partnership with the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal and Investment initiative (NHSRII) and Sector wide approach (SWAP) in line with all its four pillars.

He said that the NEC noted the report of the panel set up at the Maiduguri NEC to review and resolve all post-election petitions received from various states.

He also said the summit encouraged the strengthening of partnership with the various hospitals leadership across Nigeria to make hospitals work by enacting strong institutional mechanisms to improve clinical governance in these hospitals.

He further said that the summit also recognized the need for the association to draw up an NMA Strategic plan for the next 5 years , and reiterated that all hands must be on deck to support the development of the plan using support of willing members of the association.

He said, “The NEC suggested that Health workers should be trained on the importance of pharmacovigilance and the use of e-reporting through the Med Safety App.

“The Summit encouraged exploring the possibility of partnership and signing Memoranda of Understanding with doctors in the diaspora to deepen collaboration and exchange via partnership with the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and other related local and international groups.”