The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) has decried the high rate of stress.
The Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of AGPMN, Dr Tunji Akintade, spoke at the group’s Pre-Annual General Meeting (AGM) to announce the chapter’s conference, which holds between September 18 and 19 in Ikeja.
Akintade explained: “The consequence of the stress leads to the sudden increase of hypertensive cases witnessed in our hospitals. Stress is one of the causes of hypertension. There should be a way to mitigate this.’’
Akintade said brain drain was affecting the industry, adding: “Human resource for health is at the lowest ebb in Nigeria, Lagos inclusive. This is due to the migration of our professionals to a supposed greener pasture. This has caused a lot of setbacks on the health of the citizens in Lagos State.
“We hereby call for a serious stakeholder engagement in the private sector for a flexible Public-Private Partnerships. This can be achieved through health insurance scheme which premium is priced separately from those prices for public facilities. We urge the government to support AGPMPN’s plans to have a unified tariff as well as a standard treatment protocol equitable for varied plans.”
It urged the Lagos State Government to improve food safety by regulating the food-vending business such as eateries.
Akintade said due to the population increase in the state, the government needed to provide more regulations on food business and provide good drainage network to forestall flooding.
“I will use this opportunity to pronounce that the outbreak of cholera this year and age, particularly in Lagos is totally unacceptable.
“The environmental pollution as a result of waste disposal system is absurd. We are advising the government that protection of the residents of Lagos is its primary responsibility.
“I call on the Lagos State Government to implement the Nigeria Medical Association’s (NMA’s) recommendation on screening our food handlers.
“The rate at which eateries are springing up in the state without adequate screening of handlers by competent medical experts is totally wrong,” he said.
Akintade commended the state government for various infrastructure (road) developments in Lagos but that it was causing stress.
“We urge the government to support AGPMPN’s plans to have a unified tariff as well as a standard treatment protocol equitable for varied plans,” he said
