The Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria has called for immediate implementation of the payment of hazard allowances for workers in hospitals across the country.
The president of the association, Dr Victor Makanjuola, made the appeal while, speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.
The MDCAN is a group of medical specialists in different fields of medicine and dentistry. Consultants are those practitioners that have the highest qualifications in medical practices.
Their responsibilities include training medical doctors, offering specialist services to patients, and conducting research in medical fields.
MDCAN has membership in government and non-government hospitals and tertiary and secondary health facilities across the country.
Makanjuola indicated that the decision to appeal to the government to implement hazard allowance was taken at the MDCAN National Executive Council meeting held recently in Rivers state.
“The NEC advises the Government to be wary of actions that could result in loss of remunerations to the health workers, especially in the face of worsening inflation in the country.
“We call on Government to immediately resolve the issues of the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities strike, to allow students to return to school.
“State Governments owing our members several months of salaries and other emoluments are enjoined to pay the arrears of what is owed to the medical and dental consultants working in their hospitals and continue payment of their monthly emoluments as at when due, with particular reference to Abia and Ondo State Governments,” he appealed.
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According to him, governments at all levels are encouraged to prioritize the allocation of resources to the health sector for infrastructure and human capacity development.
Makanjuola said that governments at all levels were enjoined to increase funding for healthcare service delivery, especially at the secondary healthcare level.
He said that the association also called for the speedy address of the issue of the shortfall in remunerations of its members and implementation of hazard allowance without further delay, especially that of the Clinical Lecturers.
He, however, appealed to the government to put all processes in motion to stop the mass exodus of Nigerian Doctors to other countries.
“The Federal Ministry of Health, National Council on Establishments and other relevant Agencies of Government should expedite action on the implementation of the upward review of retirement age for Health workers.
“Further delay might result in irreversible damage to the nation’s health security from the brain drain of the experienced and highly skilled health workforce,” he stressed.
