By Pwanagba Agabus, Jos
The Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria, SOFPON has decried the gross lack of funding for the healthcare in the country, as well as the increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in Nigeria, and urged all stakeholders to do the needful to reverse the trend.
SOFPON equally lamented the high rate of out-of-pocket spending on health care and advocated increased activities to promote universal health coverage across the country.
The physicians while addressing journalists in Jos on the occasion of this year’s World Family Doctors Day, WFDD with the theme: “Always There To Care,” noted that family doctors are taking the lead in ensuring solutions to the health needs of families.
Briefing journalists on behalf of his colleagues, SOFPON President, Prof. Musa Dankyau said, “Nigerian Family Doctors are always there to care, the theme highlights important issues for SOFPON members as we join our colleagues all over the world. Family Doctors are present at all times because continuity of care is a fundamental feature of our practice.
“We continuously provide care from cradle to the grave through our first contact practice and coordination with other specialists and health professionals.
“This creates a special challenge for Family Doctors today to adopt and constantly refine new strategies and technologies including telemedicine which will enable us to always be there.
“Family Doctors are there, wherever and whenever that may be. We are at the frontline, delivering service in a variety of health institutions from one-man to large Tertiary Hospitals.
“This also comes with significant risks for SOFPON members working at the frontline of disease outbreaks and insecure locations throughout Nigeria.
“We must therefore remember to be advocates for good governance as a basis for providing solutions to insecurity and health governance as a bedrock of a robust health system which can respond effectively to disease outbreaks.”
He stated the responsibility to provide quality healthcare to Nigerians accompanied by all the positive values that matter and stressed, “funding is a critical component of health care… in Nigeria, health financing is inadequate, we still have a high rate of pockets spending on healthcare…
“We are having a double burden of disease in Nigeria, we are having an increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases… vaccine hesitancy is a problem because of lack of acceptability… Family Doctors are in the forefront of repositioning health care as we now engage in technology to improve health care delivery…”
