The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Mike Ogirima, has called on the federal government to employ a professional doctor in each of the primary healthcare centres, PHCs, to be revitalised.

Mr. Ogirima gave the advice on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

He said this will ensure that patients are treated by qualified doctors, instead of patronising quack doctors.

“We have been advocating that as government is revitalising the primary health centre, a doctor should be employed at that primary healthcare centre.

“The government should not just leave the health of the people 100 per cent in the hands of some health professional. Let them be supervised by a qualified doctor to diagnose and treat patients.

“Those set of professionals work with guidelines, as they just give patients drugs to try. But a qualified doctor listens, examines and lays out lab tests meant for a patient.

The federal government, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, and the Federal Ministry of Health, wants to make at least one primary health care centre fully functional in each of the 109 senatorial districts across the country. This is part of a larger plan to revitalise 10,000 health centres across Nigeria.

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had disclosed this during the commissioning of the Model Primary Health Care Centre, Kuchigoro in Abuja. He said that the scheme was to avail poor Nigerians with qualitative and affordable health services.