By Chioma Umeha
Following an initiative which seeks the rebirth of
harmony among the different professionals in the health sector, experts drawn
from each of the major health disciplines will brainstorm at a symposium
holding at the University of Lagos on May 11.
The symposium is being jointly organised by the
Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy in partnership with the Pharmaceutical Society of
Nigeria (PSN) and will feature practitioners drawn from medicine, pharmacy,
nursing and midwifery, medical laboratory sciences, physiotherapy and other
medical professions.
Former Minister of Health, Professor Eyitayo Lambo
will deliver the keynote presentation.
According to Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi,
President of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy and also a former Minister of
Health, “the dire state of healthcare in Nigeria today despite continuing
efforts, requires that all professionals in the sector work in harmony to
tackle the issues for the good of the country.”
Unfortunately, he lamented, “The poor state of
affairs is made even worse by the animosity, distrust and consequently,
disharmony among the different professionals in the health sector.”
The most vital resource in the health sector, said
Adelusi-Adeluyi, is not the annual budgetary allocation from government, but
rather, the sector’s huge human resource endowment.
It is only by building on its strengths which
include its diversity, that the health sector can become truly primed to
deliver optimal value to Nigeria, he added.
“Here is a sector brimming with enthusiastic and
well-trained doctors, pharmacists, nurses, medical scientists, optometrists and
other cadres of professionals. If professionals in this sector would cooperate
with each other and work as one united team, it would be a big plus for
healthcare delivery in our country.”
Adelusi-Adeluyi acknowledged that the mutual
animosity among health professionals is not unfounded. “Developments over the
years”, he said, had unfortunately helped to pitch the different groups of
professionals against each other by perpetuating negative perceptions of each
other.
Such negative perceptions had fed fat on anger and
divisive statements by the various cadres of professionals, to the detriment of
Nigerians who ought to benefit from an optimally functional healthcare
industry.
The forthcoming symposium he stated, is only one
in a series of activities which the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy is putting
together to eradicate or curtail to the barest minimum, the animosity in the health
sector and fast-track the emergence of a culture of mutual trust and
collaboration among the various professionals.
Incidentally, he says, the project which is a
pioneering effort by health experts themselves, has been enthusiastically
welcomed by different health professionals, all of whom are uncomfortable with
the current state of affairs among the various professionals.
The Nigerian Medical Association, the National
Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives among others have all indicated a
willingness to be part of the programme.
Other speakers lined up for the Symposium include
Dr. Ebun Sonaiya, a medical doctor and former president of the Guild of Medical
Directors, Mr. Jimi Agbaje a pharmacist and frontline politician, Mrs. Sade
Modupe Jokotola a veteran nurse as well as Prof. Agbonlahor a leading light of
the medical laboratory scientist profession.
Founded in 2014, the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy
is one of six specialist academies in Nigeria, the others being the academies
of Letters, Arts, Science, Engineering and Education respectively.
