PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, declared that there was no reason for medical doctors in the country to go on strike if the right atmosphere and facilities were put in place for them to practice.

Speaking, while inaugurating the newly-built N2.6 billion 400-bed Bauchi Specialist Hospital in the Bauchi state capital, the President stated that his administration was collaborating with state governments across the country to get facilities of world class standard in place with a view to putting an end to Nigerians seeking treatment abroad.

According to Jonathan, the Federal Government was doing everything possible to strengthen both primary and tertiary healthcare in the country, adding that this explained why government collaborated with all stakeholders to eradicate guinea worm in endemic states, like Ebonyi State.

He stated that the country was on the verge of being removed from the list of polio ravaged countries in the world, assuring that before the end of the year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) would declare Nigeria a polio-free country.

While expressing satisfaction with the facilities put in place by the Bauchi State government in the new specialist hospital, President Jonathan informed that in the next four years, the Federal Government was going to select hospitals across the six geopolitical zones in the country to serve as referral centres where, instead of Nigerians going abroad for medical tourism, they would stay in the country to get treatments.

According to Jonathan, “this hospital is capable of handling a number of cases that used to take Nigerians out of this country. What people describe as medical tourism.

“As a government, we have decided that both our primary and tertiary health would be strengthened. At primary health level, we are doing very well. That is why we were able to eliminate issue like guinea worm completely from Ebonyi State and some of the states that suffered from guinea worm.

“We are also committed to eradicating polio. There is no reason why as a nation, we should still have children born healthy but because of lack of medical care, they develop weaknesses, weak bones from viral issues. God willing, before the end of this year, the World Health Organisation will declare that we have intervened in polio in a way that Nigeria will be removed from countries accommodating polio,” President Jonathan stated.

“I am happy with the infrastructure we have here and in the next four years, government will set up a technical team to see how we will manage these good hospitals we are having. I have gone to quite a number of states and the governors are building very fine hospitals. Some are equipping these hospitals with modern equipment. But equipment without proper management cannot help,” he said.

He submitted that with the competent medical personnel the country is endowed with and with the six centres in place, doctors could go round the country to render their services.

Jonathan further declared that government would be paying doctors wages commensurate with their services, saying that with this there would be no need for any strike in the health sector again in the country.

“As a Federal Government, we have the idea that we must put up in the six zones for referral cases so that Nigerians who are going outside can be going to these zones. In overseas, doctors are not just attached to one hospital. Consultants move from one hospital to another.

“These consultants, you have a patient here, from here you go to Ibadan, you go to Enugu, you go to Lagos, Kaduna to do his work. And through that process the doctors are well paid. You cannot have a doctor working in one place from morning till night, from January till December.

“A professional doctor who is good in neurosurgery should be able to serve the whole country. A particular doctor who is good in open heart surgery should be able to serve the whole country. A specialist in orthopedic surgery should be able to serve the whole country. That is what we are thinking the country must do.

“We have no reason why medical doctors are going on strike. As a government, we will do our best to come up with programmes and policies that will make them to earn commensurate wages so that they will be stable and do the work they are paid to do,” he declared.

Speaking earlier, Bauchi State governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, expressed satisfaction with his administration constructing the specialist’s hospital, adding that it was of a world-class in view of the standard equipment, which he said were imported directly from the manufacturers, put in place.

According to Yuguda, the hospital was constructed by his administration with a view to complementing the newly-built Sir Tafawa Balewa International Airport, also inaugurated by the President, to bring medical tourism to the state.

The governor, however, expressed gratitude to the President for his support for the Bauchi State government, which he noted made the construction of the airport and the hospital possible.

He assured that his administration would ensure proper maintenance of the hospital, noting that the state government was promoting healthcare delivery as part of National Development Goals in tandem with its own transformation agenda.

“We are not only setting health as priority but we are putting funds behind it. We are not only providing funding for infrastructure but we are also providing funding for training, providing funding for modern equipment and increasing the availability of drugs,” Yuguda said.

In his welcome address, Bauchi State Commissioner for Health, Professor Sani Abubakar Malami, noted that the occasion was a moment of joy and a life-time memory for the people of the state.

According to the commissioner, the 400-bed specialist’s hospital was a world-class facility sited in the state fully equipped with standard equipment.

Malami therefore expressed appreciation to everyone who contributed in one way or the other to the success story the hospital had become.

Dignitaries, including the national chairman, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Mohammed Yaya Miya; Director-General, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation,Dr Ahmadu Ali; former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Muhammed; members of the National Assembly, among others witnessed the inauguration.