BY CHIOMA OBINNA

Pharmacists under the auspices of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Lagos State branch ant the National Assembly to withhold any allocation for the informal programme of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) until the various violations in the NHIS Act are addressed.

The pharmacists who disclosed their position on the inclusion of more enrollees in the informal sector of the economy at their annual general meeting held in Lagos expressed worry that the NHIS management

team, that had proven to be incompetent in managing less than 5 per cent of people in the informal sector, will be given a mandate to include an overwhelming 80 per cent enrollees in the informal sector.

The Chairman, Pharm. Lanre Familusi stated “We also find it imperative to urge government to create the foundation for a functional and effective NHIS by appointing g either a professional insurer or a seasoned administrator cum manager of cognate experience as the executive secretary of the scheme”

On plans by the Federal Ministry of Health to abolish consultancy in healthcare practices that are not medically inclined, Familusi said “Much as medical consultancy is desirable because it has strengthened the health systems, pharmaceutical consultancy and indeed other brands of health consultancy must be given moral and legal teeth because they remain complimentary in the best interest of the patient.”

He argued that the global trend today is for care providers to specialise in their areas of competence in a larger bid to improve patient safety adding that the reality in the country’s environment is

that health consultancy has been a reality for over 50 years and there is need for the federal ministry of health to support the laudable initiatives of various cadres of health workers to improve the quality of their output through specialised care procedures.

He further implored the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu to take another look on the circular on teaching allowance and rural posting for health workers.

“We do not solicit indiscriminate payment of allowances to those who do not deserve these allowances but it is important to stress that there is a crisis potential if you suddenly stop people from enjoying benefits of hard work hitherto enjoyed.

We do stand solidly on the recent intervention of the PresidentialCommittee of Health Section which has admonished the Federal Ministry of Health to halt the implementation of its controversial circulars in the interest of justice and equity to all”.