During his maiden interactive session with reporters, Prof. Akin Abayomi, Lagos State commissioner for Health, unveiled his plans to improve public healthcare services in the state, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF
Delivering quality and accessible healthcare services in a state with over 20 million people requires meticulous planning and massive investment and funding to achieve results.
This was the thrust of the address by Prof. Akin Abayomi, Lagos State commissioner for Health, when he unveiled his plans for healthcare delivery.
Abayomi, who declared that though “I am new in the Ministry of Health but not new to the Ministry of Health,” is a professor of Medicine at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), a Federal Government institution charged with advancing the frontiers of modern medicine and research, based in Yaba, Lagos.
Having worked with the ministry hierarchy over the years, especially since the Ebola outbreak that tasked the nation’s medical resources in 2014, Abayomi is, indeed, on a familiar terrain. Admitting that Lagos is unique, now being referred to as a hyper city with various challenges, he said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was aware of huge expectations from the public and determined to improve the health sector and boost outcomes in the state.
On how the administration plans to improve access to healthcare for millions of Lagosians, Abayomi said the state would renovate, expand and build more primary healthcare centres and general hospitals in all the 57 local government and local council development areas (LCDAs) of the state. This will enable more residents to have access to healthcare services with less hassle, vowing that all health facilities found to be in deplorable state will be revamped for better service delivery. He promised that part of the reforms to be introduced in the health sector will soon see to the construction of health facilities that are built in a way that conforms to modern standards.
By this, Abayomi meant that hospitals buildings and other infrastructure around them are supposed to be built to give the right ambience, stressing that construction of hospital facilities can only be designed and handled by experts with proven track records.
“Health facility buildings are not what any contractor can handle. In developed world, people go to the university to study how health facilities are designed and constructed. The echo design and other features must be unique and unlike other buildings. We are designing the blue print to redesign our facilities,” he said.
While maintaining that the administration is poised to ensure that primary healthcare centres deliver on their mandate of providing quality services to the people, Abayomi said Governor Sanwo-Olu is committed to achieving universal health coverage.
“We will restructure healthcare delivery in our comprehensive primary health centres, renovate and upgrade existing ones as part of the drive to put confidence in the system and increase access to health care services,” he said.
The reason for this, he said, was because the success of the state health insurance scheme is dependent on the functionality of the primary healthcare system, being the facilities that are the closest to the communities. If the state is able to make its primary health centres effective, he said stated that it would go a long way in easing the pressures on the secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities.
The commissioner emphasised that the administration is determined to change the face of public health, adding that the new model will be anchored on the upgrade of existing primary health centres, construction of new ones in riverine and hard-to-reach areas, recruitment of more health workers, strengthening of the referral system and human resource development at that level of care. Because it recognises primary healthcare as the bedrock of the health service delivery, the state is working reform the sector in order to bring quality and efficient medical services closer to the people.
“One of the core policy objectives of the administration in the health sector is to increase access to care services through the revitalisation of the state’s primary health system; this we are committed to and this we will achieve,” he said.
Besides ensuring that primary healthcare centres deliver on their mandate, Abayomi promised that there was a commitment by the administration to achieve universal health coverage. “We will restructure healthcare delivery in our comprehensive primary health centres, renovate and upgrade existing ones as part of the drive to put confidence in the system and increase access to health care services,” he said. The reason for this, he said, is because the success of the state-sponsored health insurance scheme is dependent on the functionality of the primary healthcare system, being the facilities that are the closest to the communities. If the state is able to make its primary health centres effective, he said, it will go a long way in easing the pressures on the secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities.
The commissioner assured that the government would not relent in implementing measures to enhance best practices in the healthcare system in its drive to achieve universal health care coverage and fulfilling its obligation to develop, collaborate and execute health-related strategies and health care projects across the state.
“The effectiveness of the primary health care would go a long way in reducing the pressures on the secondary and tertiary health care facilities; the government would not relent on putting in place necessary measures in enhancing best practices in the healthcare system,” he said.
Despite the Abuja Declaration that recommended 15 per cent budget allocation to health, he admitted that Lagos was yet to allocate more than eight per cent of its budget to healthcare, stressing that there were plans to improve budgetary allocation gradually to achieve the target. Abayomi said Sanwo-Olu would not shy away from the necessity of subsidising healthcare, though doing this would gulp trillions of naira in the face of other competing needs in a fast-growing city like Lagos.
“We are talking about billions of dollars investment in healthcare. If we want our health system to grow, we need to invest more. We need at least N80 billion for healthcare in Lagos State,” he said.
On the seeming lull in the state health insurance scheme, he said the administration was working to implement it fully for Lagosians. He however added that it was sad that about 66 per cent of Lagos residents could not pay for quality healthcare, no thanks to poverty. This means the government will have to find means of supporting such huge number of extremely poor people.
“This percentage of people in the state could not pay for healthcare and could not be captured in the insurance scheme. With the health insurance scheme aimed to ensure accessibility and affordability, only 33 percent of people who were well to do could access it. We have to address the health of the under-privileged people. We feel they are one step away from poverty and they don’t have the capacity to respond to sickness,” he said.
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