Health
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Kogi chapter, on Friday urged the Federal Government to put in place modalities for accessing the one per cent Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) meant to take care of emergency health care services.
The Chairman of the association, Dr Kabiru Zubair, made the call in Lokoja at the opening ceremony of the association ’s 2019 Physicians’ Week and Ordinary General Meeting (OGM), tagged: ”Care Of The Unknown Patient: An Overview”.
Zubair said that the CRF that was set up by the federal government has three components; 50 per cent for primary healthcare, 45 per cent for health insurance scheme, and 5 per cent for emergency care to the people.
He, however stressed that the modalities for accessing the fund is not yet clear, while calling on government to bring out policies for accessing it.
According to him, the theme of the OGM was chosen to bring to fore the issues affecting Nigerians who have suddenly found themselves in an unconscious state resulting from traumatic causes, majorly road traffic accidents or medical critical conditions as the case may be.
The chairman said the call became necessary in order to address all the critical aspects of emergency care services including proper and adequate reimbursement of healthcare providers, especially at the level of private health care facilities.
”We feel that it is time for us to bring the issue to the forefront, so that government can bring out policies in respect of taking care of patients especially in private hospitals.
”Oftentimes private hospitals will treat patients and at the end of the day nobody refunds them for the treatment, so because of this they tend to reject patients.
”So, it is on this note that we are calling on government to bring out policies that would ensure that such patients are taking care of,” he said.
He further advocated for the training of all health workers especially doctors in basic life support and extending such knowledge to other health workers and paramedics for application in critical moments.
Zubair noted that the NMA was presenting free continuous medical education as a requirement for doctors to register at the end of the year, “the association is providing five points medical education to members”.
A Consultant Psychiatrist at the Federal Medical Center Lokoja, Dr Daniel Ajogbon, spoke on the topic: ”Curbing the Increasing Trend of Suicide in Nigeria; The Role of NMA”.
Ajogbon urged all stakeholders to partner with the NMA in ensuring relevant social support, including affordable care for Nigerians that were struggling with all forms of mental health challenges.
The psychiatrist also called on parents to inculcate the habit of resilience in their children in order to reduce the rate of suicide cases in the society. (NAN)
– Oct 18, 2019 @ 16:05 GMT |
Tags: Healthcare: NMA urges FG to unveil modalities for accessing CRF
