Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki has called for a more dynamic and functional model to finance tertiary institutions in the country, particularly health institutions through robust partnerships and collaborations with the private sector, so as to strengthen the healthcare system and ensure quality healthcare delivery to citizens.
Obaseki made the call at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), held at the institution’s compound, in Benin City, with the theme, “Advancing the Legacy of Quality Healthcare.”
In his opening remarks, Obaseki reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ensuring a resilient health system to deliver quality, efficient, and affordable healthcare services to Edo people, urging for the collaboration of the private sector.
The governor said, “I want to reiterate the call for a more dynamic and functional model for financing tertiary education institutions in Nigeria through robust partnership and collaborations with the private sector.”
According to him, “In order for us to build a sustainable and resilient healthcare system, emphasis must now be focused on health financing. Government alone can no longer carry the bulk of the cost of providing healthcare services particularly when there are now more private providers of healthcare services than public providers like UBTH.
“This is why we in Edo State have established a compulsory health insurance scheme and in addition, we are investing in infrastructure and strengthening our primary healthcare network while improving the institutions where we train our healthcare personnel like our nursing school and institute of health technology.
“Our healthcare strategy in Edo State is to emphasize our function as a government which is to regulate the healthcare system and practitioners of the healthcare system in the state.”
He added, “These activities will go a long way to help strengthen the structure of healthcare in Edo whole we take advantage of the existence of UBTH as a foremost research and training healthcare institution in this area.”
Obaseki while hailing the staff and management of the teaching hospital for their unwavering commitment to providing high-quality healthcare services to the people of Edo State and Nigeria in the past fifty years, assured of the government’s sustained collaboration with the federal government-owned institution.