By Chinyere Amalu

ABUJA—  Minister of Health, Professor Christian Onyebuchi Chukwu has directed Chief Medical Directors, CMDs, to call the two factions of Resident Doctors to order, saying, the Ministry cannot continue to work in disharmony.

Professor Chukwu who gave the directive yesterday at a meeting with the CMDs, said, there is so much distraction in the health sector as a result of the strike action embarked upon by a faction of resident doctors.

He however, noted that the meeting was conveyed to enable the ministry look into various challenges facing tertiary health institutions in the country, adding that “there are so many complaints from Nigerians on the quality of health services you deliver.”

His words, “we have confirmed that there are two factions of resident doctors and we are appealing to you, to call them to order, because we cannot continue to work in this manner. More so, we cannot realize our mandate by working in distractions.

“There are so many complaints which range from attitude of health workers to patients, corruption in the sector, and high cost of treatment among others. We have done well but a lot still has to be done, and this will be possible if we work together as a team.”

The Minister who acknowledged that the nation’s tertiary health institutions are not meeting the aspirations of Nigerians as expected, advised the CMDs to set a goal that would move the sector forward.

“We in the ministry are going to set up a committee that will come up with modalities on how to move the sector forward”, he added.

Meanwhile, the minister in a briefing to sensitize the public on the forthcoming, 2nd National Conference on Health Promotion, yesterday, said “health promotion is critical to improving outcomes in the prevention and control of causes of morbidity and mortality and in meeting the health related Millennium development Goals.

“Health promotion has crucial role to play in fostering healthy public policies and health supportive environments, enhancing positive social conditions and personal skills and promoting healthy lifestyle.”

On the importance of the conference, he noted that it was necessitated by a global action to enable stakeholders close the implementation gap in health promotion through, strengthening leadership and workforce, mainstream health promotion into national polices and empower communities and individuals.