Before October 2010 in Ekiti State, any pregnant woman who could not afford the conventional ante-natal care had to resort to the traditional ‘agbebi’ or church maternity centres where the cost seemed affordable to them. This definitely contributed to the high maternal mortality of 420 per 100, 000.
This same situation applied to elderly persons and children under the age of 5 whose parents and relations had no monetary wherewithal to cater to their medical needs should they fall ill. One can only imagine what effects this would have, especially on infant mortality.
The first panacea the Kayode Fayemi administration proffered was free health for all pregnant women, elderly persons above the age of 65, People Living With HIV/AIDS and children under the age of 5. By July 2012, less than two years after the free health policy was implemented, maternal mortality had dropped to 135 per 100, 000 and unlike before when only 45% of women resident in Ekiti had access to 4 or more ante-natal care visits before delivery, out of the 112, 399 people who had registered for the free health programme by July 2012, 10, 787 were pregnant women. Of this number, there were 240 caesarian sections. Heaven knows what complications could have occurred had these women given birth in the home of the so-called ‘iya agbebi’ (traditional mid-wives) or at home!
The free health programme is also doing a lot in prolonging the lives of Ekiti elderly citizens who could have hitherto died due to their inability to pay their medical bills. This is evident in the number of old people who keyed into this programme. They account for 51.15 per cent of registered clients and 42.40% of total facility attendance in the first year of the programme. No doubt, the inability of this section of the society to afford health care is largely due to poverty, a reason the Fayemi government implemented the Social Welfare Scheme for the aged (the first in sub-Saharan Africa) under which elderly persons who are above 65 are paid N5, 000 monthly. This definitely cannot be an all-in-all solution to poverty. Youth also have to be empowered to care for their parents. In answer to this, the administration recently commissioned the Eyiyato Enterprise Development Centre in Iloro-Ekiti and a Women Development Centre in Igede-Ekiti where youth and women will be schooled in the art of enterprise and skill acquisition training, after which they would be given grants to start off on their own. Besides these, youth are being absorbed into the Civil Service, Teaching Service, Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA), Peace Corps, Fire Service Department, paramedics, etc. But even with all these empowerment programmes for the youth, there is no denying the fact that no matter what, there will still be some who will not cater for their parents, even if they have all the money in the world. And what about those who have no children? This is one of the many ways the free health programme comes in handy.
The Fayemi administration did not stop at this; it also has in mind those who do not fall in the free health beneficiaries’ category, hence its implementation of another health policy – the free health mission. The mission goes round towns and villages in the state on a periodic basis to treat people of different ailments. Since 2011 when the first edition of the free health mission held, over 720, 000 people have benefitted, and this is excluding beneficiaries of Ilera La’afin, a palace health mission for kabiyesis, chiefs and their households. In the words of Governor Kayode Fayemi: “The Free Health Mission was designed to consolidate the Free Health Services to all the citizens of the State through a population-based outreach model. The philosophy of the scheme is to deliver services to the wider population not protected or covered by the facility-based burden and improve health outcomes of the general population. This intervention is being carried out because: it assures Greater Equality: Compared with higher levels of care, free medical missions are more accessible geographically, financially and culturally to local communities, and provide more personalised care to the most vulnerable; it reduces the Disease Burden: By effectively addressing the most common health needs of the people. Medical missions can bring the greatest benefits to the health of families and communities, because a predominant share of the burden of disease is concentrated in children under age 15; and it produces Economic Savings: by improving family health, free medical missions reduce the economic consequences of ill-health. It is a known fact that illnesses lower worker productivity and drain household assets.”
In addition to all these, the government has spent over N125 million through the Medical Assistance Scheme to pay the medical bills of those with chronic medical illnesses and who do not have financial wherewithal within and outside the country. A recent example is the case of one 2-year-old Daniel Popoola suffering from cancer of the eye. Apart from taking care of the surgery, the government is currently funding the chemotherapy.
At present, all the hospitals in the state are being renovated to meet current acceptable standard while the Cancer Diagnostic and Wellness Centre, named after the late Deputy Governor Adunni Olayinka, is ready for use. No doubt, this centre will also serve cancer patients from neighbouring states where such does not exist.
Other achievements of the Fayemi administration in the health sector include but not limited to:
* A completed and commissioned auditorium at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ado–Ekiti
*An Administrative Block and 2 blocks of 200-bed hostel were constructed at College of Health Technology, Ijero-Ekiti
*Over 90% success rate at the National Examination of the State School of Nursing and Midwifery
*A laboratory extension block was constructed and completed at the University Teaching Hospital
*A new Accident & Emergency block was completed and is now in use at the Teaching Hospital
*Completion of the construction of Ekiti State Health Data Bank to house and disseminate all health data
*Procurement of 34 motorcycles to facilitate data collection and collation
* Inauguration of Ekiti taskforce for the monitoring of health service delivery within the private sector
* Launching of Multiple Births Trust Fund and the Maternal Health Records Book
* Procurement of additional units of ambulances for the State Ambulance Service
* Procurement of oral typhoid vaccines for Ekiti State boarding students
The achievements of the Fayemi administration in the health sector in just three years are nothing but commendable and a great leap considering the scarce resources of the state. This was attested to by NAFDAC boss Paul Orhi when he visited the state and couldn’t help describing the Ekiti State Unified Drug Revolving Fund (UDRF) supported by the World Bank as the best in the country. These are the changes the Dr. Kayode Fayemi administration has brought about in the Ekiti health sector – changes so huge they can’t but be noticed.
This is not to say that previous administrations did nothing in the health sector (of course, they did), but the approach of the present administration has given more people unrestricted access to good health care – people who hitherto had to contend with unorthodox medical practices which in most cases are unhygienic.
