24th June, 2011
A medical doctor and politician, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, on Thursday advised medical doctors to participate actively in Nigeria’s political system to ensure implementation and evaluation of health policies.
Mamora, who represented Lagos West District in the sixth National Assembly, gave the advice on Thursday in Lagos at a general meeting of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
Mamora said that doctors needed to go beyond medical practice and enter into the sociopolitical realm of the country’s governance to pursue effective implementation of health policies.
The senator added that active involvement of doctors in governance would enhance efficient healthcare delivery to the masses.
“A resident doctor must participate actively at all levels of governance and seek relevance in order to ensure efficiency of national health policies,†he said.
The Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Sun Newspapers, Mr. Femi Adeshina, who was at the event, urged doctors to be trustworthy since patients entrusted their lives to their care.
He said that a good doctor should be loving, patient, knowledgeable, civil and humane “because they are generally perceived as being next to God when it comes to healing.â€
The editor noted that inhumane attitude of some doctors compelled some patients to seek medical help abroad.
“Doctors must ensure that they make themselves available to their patients at all times and lend listening ears to all their health issues so as to give them proper treatment,†he urged.