Physicians' Week: NMA plans free medical check for civil servants in Abuja
October 22, 2012 20:34
health minister
Audio attached
Physicians' Week: NMA plans free medical check for civil servants in Abuja
NAN-HG-8
Week
Abuja, Oct. 22, 2012 (NAN) The Abuja chapter of Nigerian Medical Association says it will provide free medical check up to civil servants in the FCT as part of its gesture to give back to the society.
Dr Titus Ibekwe, the Chairman of the FCT chapter of the association, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the Continuous Medical Education programme organised by the association in Abuja on Monday.
Ibekwe said that the exercise was part of the Physicians' Week celebration.
“As we said during our swearing in ceremony, ‘giving back to the society is our key focus. ’
“And to that end, we plan to actually carry medical outreach to the less privileged and to the nooks and crannies of the FCT.”
NAN reports that the Continuous Medical Education is just one of several programmes going on in the FCT as part of the NMA’s 2012 Physicians’ Week.
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“The Annual Physicians’ Week is celebrated all over the country.
“As it’s happening in FCT, it’s also taking place simultaneously in the rest of the 36 states of the country.
“And the national president has just flagged of the programme, which means every state is at liberty to carry on.
“We usually have one theme and sub-themes all over the country.
“We are talking about prescription; its abuse; privileges; and rights associated with it; we are also talking about aging.”
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NAN reports that the theme of this year’s Physician Week is “Prescription of Medicine: Abuse and Implication on the health of Nigerians.”
The sub-themes of the six-day event, which began on Friday with Jumaat prayers at the National Mosque, are “Aging and Health”; and “Cancer Prevention in Nigeria: Where are we now?”
Ibekwe noted that the sub-theme of health and aging was particularly important because everyone would get old.
He said that the number of senior citizens in the country was rapidly increasing and would surpass 17 million by the year 2015.
He said that the earlier the country starts preparing for them, the better the quality of their lives would be.
“The earlier we start looking into the field of geriatrics that is the area of medicine that takes care of the elderly, the better for us.’’
Ibekwe said that the association planned to visit the FCT secretariat to see the bulk of people toiling for the nation because such people tend to work and forget about their own health.
“We will check the basic health indicators in those people during the course of this week.
“We have the manpower to carry out this responsibility but we need consumables to be able to give this programme a human face.
“That is where public spirited individuals and donors can come around to give NMA consumable drugs, an ambulance and maybe a bus to work with in order to positively help society.”
He said that members of the association had also been deployed the flood-ravaged communities to offer free medical care to the displaced people.
“Currently as I am speaking some people have been sent to flood-ravaged areas by the NMA to tackle the health issues associated with flooding. ”
Ibekwe, however, advised Nigerians to know the limits and boundaries of health care professionals.
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“Who is the correct person to prescribe; everybody wants to prescribe; posing around making a lot of mistakes as far as people’s health is concerned.
“The certified doctor is the one to make the prescription; the pharmacist is the right person to dispense our drugs.
“Moreover, health is a team work, synergistic work and everybody has his or her own role to play.
“So we are using this forum to advice Nigerians to be very wary of where they are purchasing drugs.
“Go to certified pharmaceutical outlets, so that you are very sure of what you are getting and make sure the prescription you are getting is from a certified medical doctor.”
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Mr Aaron Aboje, a representative of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who gave a lecture entitled, “Kidney disease and the role of prescriptions and herbal medicines,” urged people to take note of drug packets.
Aboje said that any NAFDAC number that ended with an L was not fully registered.
He said that L stood for listing and meant that the drug or food product was not toxic but that the consumer should proceed with caution.
He said that people should avoid any product that did not have a producer name or address on the package.
“You have a right to report to NAFDAC any drug that makes a claim and that fails to meet that claim.
“Don’t close your eye, help us to help you.”(NAN)
OOO/FOF/MSAD
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