President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that the country’s health care system would be strengthened, the president disclosed this on Thursday when he declared the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) 61st Annual General Conference open in Jos.

Mr Buhari, represented by the Minister for Health, Osagie Enahire, further disclosed that a resilient health care system would be built via strengthening the secondary health care and reforming the tertiary health care institutions in the country.

According to him, the government has made a considerable investment in facility upgrade and expansion of the organisation in most federal and state hospitals in the shape of isolation and treatment centres.

He urged medical practitioners to stop incessant strikes embarked on as this did not only set the health system back but also led to the needless loss of lives.

The president said that the federal government needed the support of every Nigerian to deliver a more viable health care system to the nation.

He commended the NMA, especially for their fight against COVID-19 and commiserated with families of those who lost their lives in the process.

Mr Buhari has never shown faith in the country’s health system by submitting himself to Local medical services. The president recently returned from London where he spent two weeks for a medical check-up.

The chief host of the event, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau, said the theme for the conference titled “Nigeria and Global Health Agenda 2030,” was apt.

He further urged the people to reflect on the challenges confronting the health care system which had resulted in low health indices such as brain drain of trained medical personnel and medical tourism which should be dissected and addressed immediately.

He assured of his administration’s continuous support to the NMA.

The ex-minister of health, Professor Isaac Adewole, who was the keynote speaker, said the 2030 agenda called for a strong political commitment to public health.

He further said that investing in the health sector should not be seen as expenditure but as development, appealing for more investment in the health care system of the country.

He also called for a conducive work environment and better incentives for health workers.

Earlier, the NMA President, Professor Innocent Ujah, said there was the need for a robust health care system as COVID-19 revealed the weakness in the system.

He called for consistent monitoring and evaluation of performances at the national and sub-national levels in order to identify the gaps for a timely and appropriate intervention to improve the quality of care and response to medical emergencies.

(NAN)