Annual General and Scientific Conference 2019

WEST AFRICAN COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS (Nigeria Chapter)

43rd Annual General and Scientific Conference (VENUE - Abeokuta)

Date: 15th – 19th July 2019   

COMMUNIQUÉ

PREAMBLE

  1. The 43rd Annual General and Scientific Meeting of the West African College of Physicians (Nigeria Chapter) was held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State from 15th to 19th July 2019.
  2. The Executive Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency Prince (Dr) Dapo Abiodun, MFR, declared the meeting open on Tuesday, the 16th of July, 2019. He was accompanied by many eminent dignitaries from the Ogun State Government.
  3. Other dignitaries that graced the opening ceremony included the Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta,  Professor Musa Olomu representing the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health; Dr. Enebong Ikpeme, representing the President, West African College of Physicians (WACP); the Chapter BOT Chairman, Dr Aderonke Manuwa-Olumide; past College Presidents - Dr Sunny Kuku and Dr Ifeoma Egbuonu; President, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Dr. LilyTaria; Medical Director, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro Abeokuta, Dr Timothy Adebowale; Registrar, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr TAB Sanusi; and representative of the President, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Dr. Lawal Akinlade.
  4. A courtesy call was paid to His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo former president of Nigeria and other prominent stakeholders in Ogun State.
  5. The Theme of the Conference was “Healthcare Governance in Nigeria” and the subthemes were:
    • ‘The state of Health Insurance and healthcare financing in Nigeria’
    • ‘Exodus of Healthcare professionals: implications for Nigeria’
    • ‘The State of emergency medical services in Nigeria’
    • ‘Medicine and The Law’
  6. Four hundred and eighty delegates from all parts of Nigeria attended the meeting.
  7. The academic activities of the meeting included the following:
  • The Sir Samuel Manuwa Lecture, titled “Healthcare governance, health insurance and the hidden epidemic: Now is the time to confront the scourge of STDs’ by Dr. Abdulrasheed Bakare on behalf of the Faculty of Laboratory Medicine.
  • Executive Symposium featuring: Healthcare governance framework in Nigeria; Improving accountability of the Nigerian Healthcare system; Clinical governance for quality health services; and Inter-sectoral collaboration for health system improvement in Nigeria
  • The Annual Chapter Symposium by the Faculty of Internal Medicine.
  • Panel discussions on Healthcare financing and Exodus of healthcare professionals
  • Lecture on State of emergency medical services in Nigeria
  • A symposium on Medicine and The Law

There were six scientific sessions during which over fifty papers on health issues relevant to the theme were presented.

THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE:

  • The wealth of a nation is intricately tied to its health and only healthy people can drive development and progress.
  • Despite its abundant natural resources Nigeria still parades poor and embarrassing health indices and is losing high-quality healthcare professionals to other countries.
  • The Nigerian healthcare system is still plagued by poor funding; inappropriate allocation of funds; poor accountability for allocated funds as well as financial leakages in the system.
  • Emergency Medical Services in Nigeria needs further appraisal with the development of an urgent roadmap for implementation of a National Emergency Services
  • There is a rising scourge of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the country with associated long-term complications and a huge economic burden.
  • There is presently an unacceptable massive brain-drain of young health professionals to other countries due to poor remuneration, the dearth of training facilities and opportunities and lack of employment for trained health manpower. This could impact negatively on the economy of Nigeria, and in the long term could lead to poor Medical Education, poor quality of research and poor Healthcare delivery.
  • There is increased awareness by the public on medical malpractice making doctors at increased risk of litigations.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

General

The Federal, State, Local Governments and people of Nigeria should urgently prioritize universal health coverage through improved funding of primary health care and expansion of the National health insurance scheme through compulsory enrolment in order to address our poor national health indices.

  Recommendations to Governments and other stakeholders

  1. Governments at all tiers should put in place a healthcare governance framework that makes the health system accountable for universal access to safe, qualitative and equitable healthcare services.
  2. Governments especially at the state and local tiers should urgently embark on recruitment, motivation and retention of health workers in order to improve primary and secondary health care and stem the exodus of healthcare workers.
  3. Government should implement the African Union ‘2001 Abuja Declaration’ of committing at least 15% budgetary allocation to health, allocate more funds to primary health care and care of the most vulnerable, and put mechanisms in place for optimal utilization of funds and other resources for health to get the best value for money.
  4. Community participation and accountability should be ensured in the implementation of health policies and delivery of health services.
  5. Stakeholders for health should embark on integration of STI services into existing health systems, promote sexual health, measure the burden of STIs, monitor and respond to STI antimicrobial resistance to enhance STI-prevention impact.
  6. In order to improve the state of emergency medical services in Nigeria, the Government should establish a National Medical Emergency Services Commission (NMESC).
  7. The West African College of Physicians should continue to offer training in Medical Ethics and other relevant subjects in order to reduce the incidence of Medical malpractice and litigations.

RESOLUTIONS

That the West African College of Physicians (Nigeria Chapter) is committed to:

  • Training and Certification of world-class medical specialists in pursuance of its mandate.
  • Assisting the Federal, State and Local Governments in the country to build virile, responsive and accountable health systems and implement functional healthcare governance systems.
  • Providing the expertise of its members to governments for the implementation of health policies.
  • Collaborating with governments and other stakeholders to improve our National health indices.                                                            

Dr. Abel Nze Onunu                                                             Dr. Adeyinka A Akande
National Chairman/                                                                National Secretary
College Vice President (Nigeria)                                           WACP Nigeria Chapter