The private sector must participate in promoting, improving and enforcing the right ethics in medical practice.
A reproductive health expert, Dr Ibrahim Wada, has called for strict ethics in medical practice, stating that Nigeria has adequate human and materials resources for advanced medical practice and improved medical standards hinged on research Wada who made the call at the inauguration of the ethics committee of Nisa Medical Group in Abuja where medical professionals emphasised the need to bring together medical scientists to deepen oversight and promote excellence in Nigeria healthcare said adherence to ethical standards in healthcare will bring out about better outcomes in medical treatment.
Wada, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Nisa Medical Group, said the institution is determined to contribute to advancement in health care by leveraging with the progress in the world of medical research, hence the constitution of an ethics committee of independent and renowned professionals.
He said the 10-member committee headed by Prof. Nkeruika Ameh is charged with ensuring high standards in practice, ensuring premium service to patients and promoting training and research.
“It is expected that medical scientists from all the fields of medicine present their thoughts, their proposal to this group, scrutinise what is intended to be done and see that the interest of the patient is protected at all times,” said Dr Wada.
He stressed that Nisa Premier Hospital has many doctors training at different levels and as such, it is imperative for the Nisa Group to formalize research by those participating medical professionals since training and research go together.
“NISA is the biggest private training establishment for doctors in this country, in terms of residency training, house officers training and post-residency training of doctors. It falls out rightly in place for us, many of the teaching hospitals have this kind of committee, and we too must have one now because we are almost there,” he explained.
Responding, the Medical Director, Dr Monday Solomon said the ethics committee was constituted primarily because of the kind of work undertaken by the hospital, particularly considering its involvement in a lot of training and research.
“We offer interventions in form of treatments, investigations and research. We have the accreditation to train medical doctors in various fields like obstetrics, gynaecology, family medicine and post-fellowship training for in-vitro fertilization.
“We recognise that we see patients across the globe, apart from people coming from various states within the country, who have different values, interests and concerns. One way to strike a balance is to have a proper committee that will look into those research questions, whose findings will be implemented in such a way that harm is not inflicted on the patients.”
He noted that the Nisa Group also considered the committee necessary in order to align and standardise its practices with international best practices.
A professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, Ameh, who has gained a wide range of experience in medical research, expressed delight to be called upon “to perform this role to a great institution like Nisa Group of Hospitals and it’s doable, because I am not going to do it alone, I have a team of seasoned individuals from every walk of life.”
“For each ethics or anything that concerns ethics, we put our heads together to bring out the best solutions to each ethical concern or questions, be it research or patient-related issue. With that, I am sure we are able to achieve our aim,” she noted.
Ameh assured that her committee intends to follow research works through from inception up to publication.
“Every research for a hospital like Nisa Hospital is an audit. It shows you whether you are doing well, whether you need to improve on something that you use to do before; so it makes it not to be business as usual.
“That is what we intend to bring to the table,” she explained.
The committee, which has individuals from all walks of life including faith, professional and gender is expected to be open-minded on its mandate while upholding global best practices.
Other members are Dr Amina Isah, Dr Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, Prof Joseph Otubu, Dr Chris Danga, Prof AdebiyiAdesiyun, Dr Terfa Simon, Nurse OluchiNdubueze, Mrs Patricia Kupchi while Barrister Halita Adekunle will serve as Secretary.