NEMA pledges to partner with Society for Family Physicians

NAN-109
Partnership
Maiduguri, Feb. 7, 2017 (NAN) The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Tuesday that it would partner with the Society for Family Physicians of Nigeria in providing health services to victims of disasters and emergencies in the country.

A statement issued in  Maiduguri on Tuesday  by Malam Sani Datti, the Head, Media and Public Relations of NEMA,  quoted the  Director General, Alhaji Muhammad Sidi, as making the pledge  when he received a delegation of the society in his office.

The statement said Sidi was represented on the occasion  by NEMA Director of Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr Kayode Fagbemi.

“NEMA has had a good working relationship with the organisation toward  assisting disaster victims in the past.

“ We will want to continue to work with the society in reducing the health hazards of all the victims of disasters as well as the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs),” Sidi said.

He commended some  ministries and departments,  especially  those in  health, water and education sectors,  for taking up their responsibilities in assisting IDPs in the North East as opposed to the belief that it was the sole responsibility of NEMA.

Sidi  stressed that the agency always reached out to victims of disasters in terms of health requirements through federal  and  state ministries of health and had paid for medical referral cases for IDPs in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

According to the statement, the President of the society, Dr Akin Moses,  said the purpose of the  visit was to seek partnership with NEMA in providing health services to victims of disasters and IDPs.

The society, he said,  was made up of over 1,000 front-line doctors who handle emergency cases across the country.

He  explained further that the society had the capacity to conduct health needs assessment for preventive, curative and rehabilitation of the displaced people in the North East and also to offer medical consultations as well as  emergency  services  in  camps and host communities. (NAN)
ABI/ECN/OJO
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(Edited by Emmanuel Nwoye/Mufutau Ojo)