SAN FRANCISCO, January 24, (THEWILL) – Leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have stressed the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to revamp the health sector in order to reduce the over $1 billion capital flight spent by Nigerians on medical tourism annually.
The Congress also emphasized the urgent need for the Federal Government to immediately establish specialized laboratories for research and diagnosis on viral hemorrhagic fevers in each of the six Geo-political zones in the bid to effectively tackle the scourge of Lassa fever.
Bobboi Kaigama and Musa Lawal, President and Secretary General, TUC, who gave the charge in a statement, noted that the establishment of these facilities would help in stemming life threatening diseases before they go viral.
“If the recent report on medical tourism as said by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, is anything to go by, it just does not make any sense that over $1 billion is being spent by Nigerians on medical tourism abroad annually for illnesses that our tertiary hospitals can handle,” they said.
“This administration of President Muhammadu Buhari must discourage the practice. Government has to make health care delivery available to majority of Nigerians.”
The TUC chiefs also advised other tiers of government and health professionals to put their acts together and redouble their efforts to ensure that emerging and re-emerging infections and diseases that had claimed many lives in the recent past were drastically curbed.
“It is our thinking that experiences of the past should by now make the leadership pro-active enough instead of the usual reactive measures. There is dire need for specialized laboratories for research and diagnosis on viral hemorrhagic fevers in each Geo-political zone to enable us nip in the bud these life threatening diseases before they go viral.
“Finally, while we acknowledge that all sectors of the economy are very critical, it should be taken into cognizance that one needs to be alive and well to be able to undertake other responsibilities. It is time to be proactive not reactive,” the statement read.
While urging relevant authorities not to trivialize issue of health, shelter and clothing as cardinal agenda of the change mantra, the labour leaders emphasized the need for “training and re-training of health personnel in specialized areas towards averting these persistent health challenges be seriously considered.
Story by David Oputah
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