Jonathan moves to avert doctors’ strike •Nigeria to get surgeon-general

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has yielded to some of the demands by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) whose members have threatened a full blown industrial action from Monday 6^th January 2014.
The doctors had recently undertaken a five-day warning strike to press home their demands.
The President met with the stakeholders in the medical sector in State House, Abuja, on Thursday where he agreed to meet some of their demands.
A source close to the meeting which did not want to be identified, revealed that the president has agreed to appoint a Surgeon-General of the Federation, a key demand by NMA.
The Surgeon-General, who must be a medical doctor, would be in charge of public health.
Jonathan was said to have also agreed that the call duty allowance of the doctors running into billions of naira would be sorted out.
The President has also agreed to look more into the National Health Insurance Scheme with a view to making it more productive.

According to the source, “the government has taken a decision to appoint a Surgeon-General of the Federation who will be a medical doctor and will be responsible for public health. That appointment will be announced soon.”
The President has now requested the NMA to make their representation to the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru as demanded by the association.
On the request for doctors’ representatives to be included in the proposed national dialogue, the source said there was no argument about that as the conference cannot take place without that segment of the society.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that Jonathan has directed the Ministries of Health, Finance and that of Trade and Investment to work together with the health sector towards supporting private investors to build state-of-the-art hospitals in the country.
The President has also directed that public officers should go for medical treatment abroad unless such services were not available in the country.
At the Thursday meeting with Jonathan were Vice President Namadi Sambo, the governor of Delta, Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu, his Labour counterpart, Emeka Wogu, Chairman, National Salary Income and Wages Commission, Richard Onwuka Egbule, and Director-General, Budget Office, Bright Okogwu.