January 24, 2016- The Trade Union Congress(TUC) of Nigeria has called on the three tiers of government and other health professionals to put their acts together and redouble their efforts to ensure that emerging and re-emerging infections and diseases that have claimed many lives in the recent past are drastically curbed.
“It is our thinking that experiences of the past should by now make the leadership pro-active enough instead of the usual reactive measures. There is dire need for Specialised Laboratories for research and diagnosis on viral haemorrhagic fevers in each geo-political zones to enable us nip in the bud these life threatening diseases before they go viral. A Case in point happened in Lagos, where an infected patient who came on a visit from another state was detected’’, TUC said in a statement signed by President and Secretary of TUC, Comrades Bobboi Kaigama and Musa Laws respectively.
TUC noted that the current position and numbers of Confirmatory Centres for Lassa fall short of National Public Health Act, which emphases Universal Health Coverage.
“ It is important that the authority realises that the issue of health should not be taken for granted. In some nations of the world three things are very critical: health, shelter and clothing. These are modules we should emulate to complement the change mantra’’, TUC said.
TUC said it is imperative that the issue of training and re-training of health personnel in specialised areas towards averting these persistent health challenges be seriously considered. It is unheard of that some health workers in a particular state ran away when someone got infected. In the past Health workers will stake out their lives to save a patient unlike what we have today. Probably because they know that there is no insurance cover nor special incentives should they lose their lives in the course of doing their job.
“If the recent report on medical tourism as said by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire is anything to go by, it just does not make any sense that over $1bn is being spent by Nigerians on medical tourism abroad annually for illnesses that our tertiary hospitals can handle. This administration of President Muhammadu Buhari must discourage the practice. Government has to make health care delivery available to majority of Nigerians’’, TUC said.
