Member representing Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency of Imo State, and Chairman of House Committee on Health Institutions, Hon. Paschal Chigozie Obi, has lamented the spate of medical quacks and collapsed facilities in Nigeria’s health institutions.
Speaking with DAILY POST in Abuja, Monday, the lawmaker said that activities of medical quacks and poor facilities posed great challenges that needed serious oversight by members of the Parliament in order to remedy the situation.
He said the House Committee on Health Institutions has seven medical doctors out of twenty-five members, noting that it was the first time that the House of Representatives has sizeable number of medical professionals in the Health Committee.
On how to tackle quacks in medical profession, the lawmaker said the Committee has been divided based on the six geopolitical zones to ease the oversight of health institutions.
“Though, it’s difficult tackling quackery in the past because of the large scope of the nation’s health institutions, we have divided ourselves based on geopolitical zones.
“With this development, we will carry out oversight functions effectively and monitor activities of hospitals.
“The scope of Nigeria’s health institutions to be covered by this Committee is very large.
“In the six geopolitical zones, there are zones that have as much as sixteen health institutions and we have a total number of twenty-five members and the beauty of the whole situation is that unlike the composition of this Committee in the 8th Assembly, which I don’t think, there was any medical doctor.
On brain drain, the lawmaker insisted that it was not compulsory that a medical doctor who is trained abroad comes home or those trained in Nigeria remains, saying that they were free to seek employment abroad.
“On the area of brain drain, not all the medical doctors who are trained needed to be employed, so those who find greener pasture outside the nation are free to do so.
“The law on Medical practice in Nigeria currently, does not forbid people staying back after Medical training abroad, hence they are free, but if government decides otherwise, the law can then be amended.”
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