…in the health sector, MDCAN stressed that such efforts must be matched with adequate facilities and infrastructure for training.
ABUJA, NIGERIA – The iNews Times | The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has issued a strong warning to governments at all levels, urging them to halt the growing trend of appointing non-doctors into the consultant cadre in Nigerian hospitals. The body argued that the practice undermines professional standards, destabilizes the healthcare system, and ultimately endangers patient safety.
This was part of the resolutions contained in a communiqué released at the end of MDCAN’s Biennial Delegates’ Meeting (BDM) and Scientific Conference, held in Enugu. The document was jointly signed by the newly elected President, Prof. Apollos Ndukuba, and the Secretary General, Dr. Augustine N. Duru, and made available to journalists.
Prof. Ndukuba explained that the continued appointment of non-doctors into consultant positions threatens to create an unhealthy work environment in hospitals across the country. According to him, this development, if not stopped, would worsen the already fragile state of Nigeria’s health system and translate into “untold hardship for patients who rely on hospitals for quality care.”
The association also expressed dismay over what it described as the systematic disenfranchisement of medical professors from contesting for the office of Vice Chancellor in universities. MDCAN maintained that such exclusions are discriminatory and detrimental to the development of higher education in Nigeria, given the critical role of medical scholars in research, teaching, and leadership.
It therefore called on the Federal Government and relevant authorities in the education sector to immediately end the practice and allow equal opportunities for medical professors in line with international best practices.
Beyond issues of appointments and exclusions, MDCAN emphasized the need for government to urgently implement measures that would cushion the effects of the present economic hardship on both citizens and healthcare providers.
The association appealed for better welfare packages, improved working conditions, and enhanced infrastructure for medical personnel, warning that without such interventions, the country risks losing more of its skilled professionals to the ongoing brain drain, popularly referred to as the ‘Japa syndrome.’
According to the communiqué, “Doctors are increasingly overstretched as a result of mass migration of colleagues abroad, forcing them to overlook their own health needs while struggling to meet those of the populace.”
While agreeing with government on the need to expand manpower production in the health sector, MDCAN stressed that such efforts must be matched with adequate facilities and infrastructure for training. Producing more doctors without proper resources, the group argued, would only worsen existing challenges.
The body further urged the Federal Government to provide immediate financial backing to the announced 50% subsidy in public hospitals as a way of reducing the cost of healthcare delivery. It lamented that despite a presidential pronouncement on the subsidy, its implementation is yet to begin, thereby frustrating efforts to achieve the administration’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” for affordable healthcare.
Another key resolution from the conference was MDCAN’s call on government to restrain professionals allied to medicine from encroaching into areas universally recognized as exclusive to medical doctors. The association argued that such encroachments have already begun to create confusion in patient care and could have dire consequences for the unsuspecting populace if unchecked.
The conference also marked the election of new national officers to steer the association’s affairs for the coming years. Elected into various positions were:
• Prof. Apollos Ndukuba – President
• Prof. Sani Adamu – Vice President I
• Prof. Mohammed Abdulrahman – Vice President II
• Dr. Augustine N. Duru – Secretary General
• Dr. Olowusi Banji Zacharaiah – Assistant Secretary General
• Prof. Chidinma Brenda Nwatu – National Treasurer
• Dr. Taiwan Alatishe – National Publicity Secretary
• Dr. Peter Teru Yaru – National Auditor
• Prof. Mohammed Aminu Mohammed – Ex-officio I
• Prof. Daiyabu Alhaji Ibrahim – Ex-officio II
• Prof. Titus O. Chukwuanukwu – Editor, NJCP
In its final remarks, MDCAN reiterated that the security, welfare, and efficiency of Nigeria’s healthcare system must not be compromised by poor policies or political considerations. It warned that the continuous marginalization of medical consultants and professors, coupled with the government’s slow response to critical health sector reforms, poses grave risks to the nation’s healthcare delivery.
The communiqué made clear that unless immediate and concrete steps are taken, Nigeria could face a deeper crisis in both its health and education sectors.
