By Muhammad Amaan with agency report
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have called on the government to provide a viable health insurance policy for health workers.
The doctors maintained a viable health insurance would reduce the out-of-pocket spending of health workers and positively impact their service delivery.
They attributed the challenges of brain drain to poor welfare, including absence of proper health insurance scheme, adding that the situation is demoralising to d0ctors and health workers.
Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise, a former NARD President, Dr Emeka Orji, urged the government to reward doctors’ dedication with improved welfare, including proper health insurance.
According to him, this would ensure the healers are also healthy enough and in the right shape of mind to cater for several patients battling different ailments.
He explained that doctors who need basic medical or surgical interventions, whether within or outside Nigeria, often lack the financial capacity to sponsor their treatment.
“You see them (doctors) practically begging for financial support, which is quite pathetic. This situation is common and happens almost weekly, with requests for financial assistance coming in—either as a group, a team, or on an individual level.
“It highlights the unfortunate reality of where the Nigerian government and society have placed us. Despite our training and professional duties, we are just one illness away from begging for financial support, making us no different from the average citizen. This challenging situation contributes significantly to the current epidemic of brain drain,” he said.
“Some of these issues highlight the inadequacy of our health system. The fact that doctors working for the government do not have a viable health insurance system that adequately caters to their needs raises serious concerns.
“If doctors are struggling with healthcare access, what happens to the average Nigerian citizen? It is alarming that doctors, who dedicate their lives to caring for others, do not have functional health insurance beyond basic medications like paracetamol. Once a doctor requires any advanced medical intervention, they are left to fend for themselves, often resorting to seeking public financial assistance,” Orji said.
Also, the Lagos State NMA Chairman, Dr Babajide Saheed, bemoaned how governments across the country take doctors’ welfare with levity, lamenting that doctors are also paying out-of-pocket to access healthcare.
“Generally, doctors’ welfare is not being taken care of. A doctor paying for surgery, treatment and drugs in the same place he or she is working is wrong. Even that is still fair; how many doctors can afford to access healthcare abroad? Or some of the specialist hospitals in the country.
“The financial capability to pay for better healthcare is very low among doctors. The little amount of money we have, we use it in settling domestic stuff.
“The government should invest in the welfare of doctors in the sense that there should be proper insurance policies for doctors catered for by the government and not doctors.
“And if there is any emergency, the doctors would be at peace to seek healthcare because he or she knows insurance is there and not that the next thing a sick doctor would think of is how to crowdfund for his or her treatment,” the NMA boss said.
