The National Executive Council, NEC, of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, has called on the vice chancellors of the universities of Ibadan, Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo and Ilorin to implement the payment of clinical lecturers with CONMESS, as is being done across other regions in Nigeria, without further delay.

MDCAN also appealed to the Federal Government to urgently stop and reverse the proliferation of non-medical consultants across hospitals to safeguard patient’s safety and enhance proper management.

MDCAN’s position was contained in a communiqué made available to journalists in Jos, the Plateau State capital, after the NEC meeting held in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The communiqué, which was signed by MDCAN President Prof. Aminu Mohammad and Secretary, Prof. Daiyabu Ibrahim, also rejected the continuous discrimination by some Nigerian universities against medical fellowship holders, preventing them from reaching the peak of their career based on not possessing a PhD degree, and reiterated that the medical and dental fellowships suffice both as academic and professional qualifications in medical training and career advancement.

According to the communiqué, MDCAN NEC observed with dismay the growing industrial disharmony between its members in universities in the South-West zone and Ilorin. This is evidently due to the failure of the management of these universities to pay clinical lecturers with the CONMESS salary structure, adding that this situation promotes internal and external brain drain in an already depleted and insufficient workforce.

The medical body also lamented the unnecessary proliferation of consultant cadres for non-medical doctors in our tertiary health institutions, noting that this, especially without any proper delineation of responsibilities, has attendant implications for patient care, especially when the job descriptions of such non-medical doctor consultants have not been clearly stated.

In addition, MDCAN called for the urgent need to convene health sector critical stakeholders’ meetings to discuss and formulate comprehensive and holistic pathways to address the myriad challenges affecting the healthcare sector and militating against optimal healthcare delivery in the country.

It added that the association would be available to contribute innovative ideas towards finding lasting solutions to the challenges facing healthcare delivery in our country.

“Government should, as a matter of urgency, develop protocols and measures for preventing Nigerians from being involved in fuel tanker accidents, improve road infrastructure, reduce poverty and provide orientation for the citizenry,” it said.

To curtail mass exodus of health professionals, MDCAN suggested: “By providing compensation schemes for occupational infections, social security and occupational insurance at the workplace.

“The Federal Government should urgently implement the signed resolutions (MoU) of 22 November 2024, addressing the long-standing demand for universal applicability of CONMESS for all medical and dental doctors across different government establishments.”