Medical Doctors State Conditions To Support Fuel Price Hike

Medical doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have stated their conditions which they say must be met by the Federal Government before supporting the deregulation of the oil sector with the resultant increase in the pump price of petrol.

First on the list of their demands is the release of the one per cent of the consolidated national revenue fund, which is estimated to be about N60 billion.

According to the NMA in a statement signed by its President and professor of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Mike Ozovehe Ogirima: “The Nigerian Medical Association supports the deregulation of the oil sector but with a caveat that part of the palliatives should include the immediate release of at least five per cent of the consolidated revenue fund as the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHPF), which the National Health Act has given to Nigerians and to guarantee its availability.

“This would revamp Primary Health Care (PHC) and reinvigorate the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cover all Nigerians.

“We also press for the immediate rehabilitation and establishment of functional PHC in all the wards nationwide as a way of cushioning the harsh effects of out-of-pocket expenditure and various inequities in Healthcare delivery.”