Nigeria shops for a Surgeon General

Rear Admiral (RADM) Boris D. Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H., is the Acting United States Surgeon General.

To join the practice of their counterparts in the US, Nigeria is planning to create the post of a surgeon general, to help stabilize the health sector.

Reacting to this is the President of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Mr. Olumide Akintayo, who stated that the justification for the position of a surgeon-general in contemporary publications and reflections is hinged on the need for such a “public officer to be saddled with the responsibility of independently assessing the medical fitness of public and political office holders”.

However, in his statement, Akintayo said: “This assertion on face value is ridiculous and certainly most unconvincing because the basic tenets of medical training positions any registered medical practitioner to undertake the responsibility of ascertaining the medical fitness of individuals.

The information provided on the need for the post of the Surgeon-General cannot be a compelling factor to waste scarce public funds for an ego trip. The best in terms of ranking ever achieved by a surgeon-general was as an Assistant Secretary of Health. Today the incumbent Surgeon-General reports to an Assistant Secretary of Health in the United States which promotes the concept. The Office of the Surgeon-General in whatever nomenclature will mean an unnecessary duplication of offices and functions which are presently being articulated and undertaken by the Office of the Minister of Health and the Minister of State for Health with an array of directors, deputy directors and their assistants. Some stakeholders in the health sector probably see Nigeria as a Health outpost that deserves a Chief Medical Officer. The fact is that healthcare is increasingly a team concept and multidisciplinary where each stakeholder contributes to a pooled effort to achieve desired outcomes.”

The PSN President declared that the health sector has suffered from avoidable entropy because of ill-concerned policies and statutes over time.

Therefore, It is in the collective interest of the Nigerian people that the National Assembly ignored calls geared towards the exclusive self interest of a few.

“Our nation needs laws that can truly impact by ameliorating the burdens of our depressed citizenry and not statutes that intensify conflict potentials in a perennially tension-soaked sector to the detriment of the overwhelming public interest.”

In another development, the PSN has urged the committee set up by the federal government to redress the grievances of health workers on contentious professional matters to be steadfast, bold and upright in tackling the various matters arising without fear or favour.

“Pharmacists, under the umbrella of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, wish to put the record straight by declaring that agitations for recognition of professional roles, optimising career aspirations, appropriate designation of specialist roles and implementation of non-discriminatory salary wages remain the constitutional rights of citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which we shall continue to champion and uphold.

“It is pertinent to draw the attention of the committee of the federal government headed by the Head of Service of the Federation, a seasoned bureaucrat that Section 42 (1) a & b which states to wit: ‘A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person (a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restricting to which citizen of Nigeria of other communities ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religious or political opinions are not made subject; or (b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religious or political opinions’. This constitutional provision forbids discrimination against citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the privileges they can enjoy in any form,” PSN said.

It declared that it is an irony of fate that the status quo in healthcare in the nation was deliberately structured to impair the legitimate aspirations of some health workers.

“As representatives of pharmacists we now insist that we shall exercise our liberties as freeborn citizens who will lawfully pursue our professional values in public interest. While we advice professionals to exhibit broad mindedness by appraising current evolutionary trends in care processes at global level, we insist and declare our readiness to attain fair justice to all concerned in the health industry in Nigeria,” PSN said in the statement.