The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the country’s health sector.
In aa communiqué issued on Sunday after its general meeting held on May 28 and June 3 in Lagos, the group said the era of paying lip service to brain drain should be over in the sector.
The communique was signed by the president of the association, Dr Orji Emeka Innocent; secretary general, Dr Chikezie Kelechi; and publicity and social secretary, Dr Umar Musa.
NARD urged the government to set up a high-powered panel to review and harmonise the reports from the former President Obasanjo Health Agenda for Nigeria committee and the former Vice President Osinbajo-led Health Sector Reform Committee, to generate a plan of action in the health sector for the Tinubu administration.
The association also insisted on the demand for at least a 200 per cent increment in the salary structure and the associated allowances as contained in its July 7, 2022 letter to the government.
“We have resolved to give the new government some time to quickly resolve this issue, which is at the root of the current spate of massive brain drain in the sector,” it said.
It also called on President Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, put measures in place to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.
It advised the government to ensure that monies saved from the removal of subsidy are put into meaningful investments like health and education that would better the lives of all Nigerians.
