President of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, Dr. Obinna Ogbonna has declared that the Federal Government should focus on appointing non-medical professionals to head the ministry of health and tertiary institutions.
The NUAHP president’s scathing remark was in reaction to the contentious Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria bill which was sent to the Senate by doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association.
He clamoured that non-medical practitioners are better suited for the administration of such ministry and public facilities in the health sector.
According to him, it is high time Nigeria changed its mindset of having only medical doctors manning such exalted offices in the health sector.
NUAHP is an umbrella of physiotherapists, medical lab scientists, dietitians, optometrists, radiographers, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, dental therapists, dental technologists, health information managers and physicists.
“The office of the minister and medical director or chief executives of public health institutions should not be the exclusive reserve of medical practitioners.
“A typical example is the appointment of Prof. Eyitayo Lambo a non-medical practitioner during the Obasanjo’s administration. Under his watch, the health sector witnessed a relative peaceful industrial atmosphere and steady growth where other health care professionals were equitably treated under an atmosphere of justice and fairness,” he said.
Ogbonna also expressed concerns that only two health practitioners without affiliation to the medicine have been the privilege to head the health ministry.
“Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, a pharmacist, had at one time headed the federal ministry of health. Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, a health economist was another minister who was fair to all.
“Whenever a non-medical practitioner heads the federal ministry of health, it is usually better because the marginalisation agenda, suppression tendencies of the medical practitioners on policies and benefits that will improve other health care professionals won’t be displayed. In short, the bias would have been taken care of,” he stated.
He opined that the position of health minister has been politicised, stressing that any qualified person can run the ministry.
“The ministry is the ministry of health, not the ministry of medical practitioners. Ministers don’t practise their various professions on that seat. It is purely the administration of human and non-human resources. The health indices under the watch of the medical practitioners are nose-diving constantly.
“Nigeria is rated 187 out of 191 nations in the commonwealth due to poor health outcomes, which could be traced to many factors more visibly poor administration of the health sector,” he said.
