<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja urged the National<\/p>\n
Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve its threatened strike<\/p>\n
action and give the Federal Government more time to address the grievances<\/p>\n
of\u00a0 doctors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking at a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Medical<\/p>\n
Association (NMA), President Buhari gave the doctors an assurance that no<\/p>\n
agreements duly entered into by the Federal Government will be dishonoured<\/p>\n
by his administration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The President called for greater understanding and support from doctors<\/p>\n
and all Nigerians in view of the present short fall in national revenue<\/p>\n
brought about by the decline of crude oil prices.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Decrying the adverse impact of the fall in oil prices on the Federal<\/p>\n
Government’s spending plans for health and other sectors, President Buhari<\/p>\n
said that his administration will continue to do its best to address<\/p>\n
issues that are of concern to doctors and other Nigerians.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The President also gave the NMA delegation an insight into his<\/p>\n
administration’s plan to establish 10,000 primary healthcare centres<\/p>\n
across the country in the next two years with the objective of providing<\/p>\n
better healthcare for about 100 million Nigerians.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He also told the delegation led by NMA President, Dr. Kayode Obembe that<\/p>\n
the National Health Act will soon be gazetted and a steering committee<\/p>\n
appointed to oversee its implementation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Minister of Health , Prof. Isaac Adewole described the plan to<\/p>\n
establish more healthcare centres as “the single most ambitious health<\/p>\n
plan for the poor in the history of Nigeria”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In his remarks at the meeting, Dr. Obembe called for the implementation of<\/p>\n
the report of the Yayale Ahmed Committee on better relations among<\/p>\n
professional groups in the health sector.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The NMA President also called for fast-tracking of the implementation of<\/p>\n
the National Health Act.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At a separate meeting with the leadership of the Pharmaceutical Society of<\/p>\n
Nigeria (PSN), President Buhari\u00a0 promised that his administration will<\/p>\n
evolve and implement measures to curb friction and disharmony among the<\/p>\n
professional groups in the health sector.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The President urged the PSN to work more closely with the National Agency<\/p>\n
for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to curb the sale of<\/p>\n
fake medicines in the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The President of the PSN, Ahmed Ibrahim\u00a0 Yakasai assured President Buhari<\/p>\n
that pharmacists in Nigeria were ready to work in harmony with other<\/p>\n
professionals in the health sector to help the Federal Government achieve<\/p>\n
its objective of improving healthcare services in the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja urged the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve its threatened strike action and give the Federal Government more time to address…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n