Medical group develop strategies to increase access to patients

The Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria (SOFPON) says its members have adopted new strategies and technologies to increase access to patients.

The president of the society, Prof. Musa Dankyau, said this on Thursday in Jos during a news conference on World Family Doctor Day entitled "Family doctors: Always there to care".

He explained that members of the society had adopted strategies and technologies such as telemedicine to ensure that they were always accessible and available for consultations.

"The training of family physicians is to ensure that we are always present at all times to provide continuity of healthcare which is the society's fundamental feature.

"The adoption of new technologies such as telemedicine increases our accessibility to patients," he said.

He further said that the act of telemedicine required a whole range of skills on how to ethically provide services for patients by phone calls or online consultation.

Dankyau pointed out that the society had the unique ability of providing first contact care, comprehensive and continuous care or individuals within the context of their families and communities.

He called on the society members to advocate good health governance that could effectively respond to disease outbreaks.