The Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to deploy technology to strengthen the war against insecurity in the country.

The group made the call in a statement by Dr Emmanuel Pius-Ngatida, Public Relations Officer of the association, after its 16th National Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting held in Abuja.

The event has the theme: “Strategies for improving Health Worker Status in a Changing World.”

The conference condemned the state of insecurity nationwide, including attacks on worship places, and recent kidnap and murder of some Catholic priests.

It therefore urged government at all levels to live up to its primary responsibility of securing lives and property of Nigerians.

The conference suggested the “deployment of modern technology, CCTV, and aerial drones for surveillance as practical strategies to boost national security.”

It advised Catholic healthcare workers to always serve as volunteer first aid groups and provide ambulance services for emergency care to victims of attacks on worship centres and other places.

The conference called for an amendment to the National Health Act 2014, to protect Nigerians from traffickers of human organs and forestall abuse of the law.

The association further urged government to quickly address the growing unemployment and lingering crisis in the education sector.

They advised members of the association not to ignore their health while serving humanity, adding that they should go for regular medical checks, exercise regularly, maintain healthy lifestyles and enrol for health insurance.

The catholic medical doctors were also encouraged to work with other health workers in their parishes to provide care for the physically challenged and vulnerable persons, such as the aged, women and children.

It disagreed with conducting abortion, euthanasia and organ trafficking, saying they contradict the culture of the Catholic Church.

The hybrid conference drew participants from within and outside the country, including the President, Federation of International Catholic Medical Associations, Prof. Bernard Ars, and participants from Liberia.

There were messages from the association’s National President, Dr Matthew Ashikeni, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prof Michael Asuzu, and the Archbishop of Abuja, His Grace, Ignatius Kaigama

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of three more orthopaedic hospitals across the country.

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, disclosed this at the official inauguration of the Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

The event was organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in partnership with development partners.

The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, also spoke at the event. She disclosed that a total sum of N471.9 billion had so far been disbursed by the Federal government as a grant to states under the 1.5 billion dollars World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme.

She said that it was gratifying to note that beyond benefitting from the grants, all the 36 states in the Federation had fully domesticated the fiscal reforms in their public financial management system.

In his speech, NGF’s Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi, said the event buttressed the commitment as governors to building a resilient Primary Health Care System.

He said that the Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge, aimed to address the bottlenecks in the system as it strove to build a robust public health care system.

According to him, evidence has shown that PHC has the potential to expand the attainment of Universal Health Coverage to as much as 80 percent of the population.

Fayemi thanked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, UNICEF, the Nigerian National Primary Health Care Development Agency, and the NGF Secretariat for putting together the challenge.

In the statement of declaration, Fayemi said that following the induction to the Seattle Declaration by 36 governors of Nigeria in November 2019, the NGF affirmed its commitment to strengthening the primary health care system in the country.