A Nigerian Socio-Political commentary

That Nigeria's healthcare industry needs a breath of fresh air is no longer in doubt. The perennial strikes occasioned by inter and intra professional squabbles, remuneration related matters, poor, inefficient services and the sheer redundancies in this sector reflect this. These are also symptomatic of a larger problem bedeviling the sector, that of a paradigm shift. The organizational, conceptual and legislative framework of healthcare currently is not well thought through, beginning from the philosophy through to the operational and tactical levels. What are the issues? 1. The lack of a legislative framework for healthcare and practice. Nigeria currently has no legislative framework for its health sector. The sector's policy direction is superfluous, incoherent, and lacks the bite for effectiveness without this backbone. The National health bill as submitted at NASS may not address the many ills it is meant to cure. It continues to languish unattended, partly because of t

Have you noticed, American doctor's append only MD as their titles? Indeed, to practice in the United States require that a doctor specialize in at least one of the many areas of medicine after the basic qualification. Therefore, as a specialist, the only insignia is the MD, though a description as a fellow may follow to show the specialty. Other appendages may include PhD, MPH and a few others. The reason is simple. A medical doctor (MD) is a medical doctor. The difference lies in the area of practice and expertise- psychiatry, surgery, Obstetrics and gynecology etc. To become a specialist therefore is a right, a necessity expected of every doctor. It is because of this that a national matching system for residential program exists in the USA. It is also because of this that a system of knowledge acquisition and career progression through postgraduate years one through five exist, specific milestones. It is equally because of this that the emphasis is on the quality and s

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