Utuama tasks Doctors on free Medicare

Source: pointblanknews.com

Delta StateDeputy Governor, Professor Amos Utuama, has implored private medical practitioners to refer indigent patients to government hospitals to take care of the Delta State Government free medicare scheme.

The state government as part of its human capital development agendum, runs free medicare for pregnant women, children under five and for rural dwellers.

Utuama, speaking at the fifth Annual Conference of Catholic Medical Association in Effurun on Saturday urged private medical practitioners not to allow indigent patients to go without medicare.

“While the medical ethics urge you to be savers of life in line with the Catholic faith, pecuniary interest may sometime cause a doctor to refuse to treat a patient without means. This certainly will be contrary to both the medical professional ethics and our Catholic faith, particularly, where the patient dies.

“Where a medical doctor is unable to offer free treatment to an indigent patient, he is urged to refer the patient to a government hospital to take advantage of the available free medical programme,” he said.“It is gratifying to note that the needy patient is not left without hope. The Delta State Government under the leadership of one of yours, His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, has under the agenda of human capital development introduced free maternal healthcare, free rural healthcare and free under five healthcare in the state to make medical care accessible to the less privileged and at no cost.

“There is no doubt that these programmes will promote holistic healthcare as well as make doctors less vulnerable to breach of their professional oaths of engagement and where they are Catholic, the Catholic faith,” he said.

He commended the association for coming together to examine ways that the Catholic faith could be promoted in the course of the practice of their profession.