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Tag: health sector

  • Fed Govt to increase budget allocation to health sector, says Buhari

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja said the Federal Government is considering an upward review of budgetary allocation to the health sector with the aim of improving the quality and access to medical facilities across the country.

    Buhari, who received the new executive of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) at the State House, said the review of the budgetary allocation would reflect the government’s priority of ensuring that Nigerians get better healthcare, especially in specialised areas.

    In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said: “We place quality healthcare on our priority list, and we are already marching on with the Primary Health Care services and some state governors have bought into it. We are committed to universal health care.”

    The President assured the leaders of the NMA that the White Paper from the Ahmed Yayale-led panel report on Inter-professional Harmony in the Healthcare Sector was already being considered by the government to ensure more organised and harmonised working relationships among medical practitioners.

    Buhari, however, urged the medical practitioners to always consider their profession as  “divine call”, especially in taking decisions that directly impact on the lives of Nigerians. He added that other means of negotiation for better working conditions should be explored instead of strikes.

    “The medical profession is regarded as a divine call because of the strategic role you play in the lives of human beings,” he said.

    The President hailed the NMA and its members on some of the medical feats being achieved in Nigeria like the separation of conjoined twins, organ transplants, heart surgeries and treatment of cancer patients.

    He noted that the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council would soon be constituted to further enhance service delivery and regulation of the sector.

    Minister of State for Health Osagie Ehinare said a newly released basic health care provision would further focus on improving service delivery to Nigerians through the Primary Health Care.

    NMA President Dr. Francis Adedayo hailed President Buhari for including members of the NMA in the Federal Executive Council and signing of the Medical Residency Training Act into law.

    Adedayo urged the Federal Government to improve on the budgetary allocation to the health sector as required by the Abuja Declaration, which sets a benchmark of 15 per cent.

    He said the speedy processing of the Ahmed Yayale report on harmony among practitioners in the medical sector would go a long way in enhancing service delivery and better working relationships.

    The NMA president said the association had already reached out to the National Emergency Management Agency for stronger partnership in providing care for victims of disasters.

     

     

  • Governor Emmanuel’s audacious feats in the Akwa Ibom State health sector

    Sometime in September 2017, the World Economic Forum released the Global Competitiveness Report for the years 2017-2018. This report which features the Global Competitiveness Index also sets out to assess the competitiveness landscape of 137 economies, and thereby providing unique insight into the drivers of the productivity and prosperity of these nations’ economies.

    The 2017-2018 World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index showed the ranking of 137 economies by their ability to sustain inclusive growth. It measures the kind of growth that delivers positive change and benefits citizens and the environment. The index looks at 12 pillars of competitiveness including Primary Education and Health, institutions, innovation, infrastructure and the macroeconomic environment.

    Switzerland was ranked as the world’s most competitive economy, a position the country has held for six years. The report showed that the country ranked highly on nearly every pillar of competitiveness. Its economy is resilient, its labour markets are strong and its people and businesses are good at absorbing new technologies. Swiss citizens benefit from high levels of public health and education, while Swiss businesses demonstrate high levels of sophistication and innovation.

    The United States followed as Second while Singapore clinched the third spot. Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan and Finland, were placed in the 4th-10th positions. Sadly, the report only begins to mention an African country when it gets to the 45th position with Mauritius emerging as the most competitive economy in the continent. Nigeria was appeared in the 125th position.

    But there is something very profound that this Global Competitiveness index did for me. It was after I took time to study this ranking, especially the import of the 4th pillar of competitiveness (Primary Education and Health) in advancing the economic standing of nations that I came to understand and appreciate the significance of an initiative that I was privileged to be a part of earlier in that year.

    Sometime in July in that same 2017, I was privileged to be among the about 45 Akwa Ibom citizens who volunteered to undertake an independent fact-finding tour to one of the oldest and strategic General Hospitals in Akwa Ibom – The Etinan General Hospital, Etinan.

    Our mission was to confirm the veracity of the claims made by the Governor Udom Emmanuel led administration that the Government had totally reconstructed and fully equipped the Etinan General hospital which had been hitherto branded by a lot of Akwa Ibom people as a deathtrap.

    When we arrived at the hospital, we were greeted by an array of reconstructed blocks within the hospital premises. The internal roads within the hospital had been constructed as well. But then, aware that fine buildings alone do not make a hospital worth its name, I told myself that I will only give my entire impression of the entire effort after I had seen what the interior of hospital looks like after the effort.

    With the Chief Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Ime Eshiett as our tour guide, we were conducted round the entire hospital. From the Accident & Emergency unit, to the Out Patient Department, OPD, hospital theatre, male, female and children wards, drug store and administrative offices, the interior of the entire hospital had showed signs of a complete overhaul of the hospital. I was pleasantly surprised to find some automated beds with ultra-sound scanners in the same hospital that was once branded as a deathtrap.

    And since I do know that the most appropriate segment of people to talk about how this new effort has impacted on the lives of the people are the patients and caregivers. I sought to speak to the patients.

    Mrs. Abigail Umoh, a teacher in one of the public secondary schools told me she only came to the hospital to deliver the baby after she heard that the hospital had been totally reconstructed and functionally equipped. In her words “I only decided to register for my antenatal when I arrived here to confirm what I have been hearing about that this hospital has been rebuilt and fully equipped. This is my third child. When I gave birth to the other two, this hospital was a deathtrap. I could not have taken the risk of delivering my two children in this hospital back then, as the place was not worthy to be called a hospital. I had to undergo the antenatal and also gave birth to my first two children in Uyo. Thankfully, this present Government has seen the need to reconstruct this hospital and that has restored my confidence in the health facility.”

    After that tour in June, I did not give much thought to the implication of the effort by Governor Udom Emmanuel to completely reconstruct and functionally equip this hospital until I came across the 2017 Global Competitiveness Report in September. The discovery that the commitment by any government in expanding and ensuring access to quality health care by her citizens was one of the most important pillars that defines the nation’s standing in Global Competitiveness ratings forced me to take more than a passing interest in the healthcare delivery sector in my state.

    From that time, I made deliberate efforts to not only follow whatever effort the present Government in Akwa Ibom state was making to expand the access to quality healthcare for our people, but also dig out information on the efforts of Governor Udom Emmanuel in this important sector.

    Interestingly, my findings show that Etinan General Hospital is just one out of the many healthcare facilities in Akwa Ibom State enjoying this complete reconstruction and total reequipping by the Governor Udom Emmanuel-led administration.

    Shortly after he assumed duties as the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Emmanuel turned his attention to the popular St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, where he succeeded in giving the hospital a commendable facelift. This effort at Saint Luke’s Hospital produced a brand new Gynecology Block named after Dr. Ann Ward, an Irish female gynecologist and Reverend Sister who once worked in that hospital. Although this health facility is not owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, that outing by Governor Emmanuel at that hospital earned for it a total rehabilitation of the Administrative Block and Hospital Wards. Of course, those who have been in Akwa Ibom would recall that this Hospital, for a long time, has remained a reference Centre in gynecology and pediatric services. It is when views from this prism that one begins to appreciate the significance of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s intervention at the St Luke’s hospital.

    As you read this, the General Hospital in Ibiaku Ntok Okpo, my mother’s Local Government is also enjoying the same good fortune of the Etinan General Hospital with the complete reconstruction of the Hospital. From what I gathered, the General Hospital in Ikot Ekpene is targeted too in the ongoing efforts of by this administration to completely overhaul and reposition the State’s public healthcare facilities. Also, not long ago, Governor Emmanuel had flagged off the construction of an Ultra-Modern General Hospital at Ituk Mbang. Strategically located at the site of the existing hospital at Ituk Mbang, the new hospital under construction is meant to service the healthcare delivery needs of Akwa Ibom people within Uyo metropolis and the Ibom International Airport.

    What excites me the most about the commitment of Governor Udom Emmanuel in reconstructing these public health facilities is that these reconstructed facilities are coming to meet adequate modern medical equipment and deliverables earlier imported by the Governor for the purpose of equipping these hospitals. Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information Charles Udoh while briefing newsmen last year on this development had hinted that about 16 containers of medical equipment had already arrived Akwa Ibom State and these medical equipment and deliverables were distributed to these public hospitals immediately after the reconstruction in line with their peculiar needs.

    Other bold and audacious moves made by the Governor Emmanuel administration in the Akwa Ibom State health sector include payment of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to Medical and Dental practitioners in the state with effect from June 2015, sustaining the Free medical services for children below 5 years, pregnant women & the aged, as well as throwing her weight behind the Continuing Professional development for Doctors which is a mandatory requirement by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. This development, I understand, is a prerequisite for the annual renewal of license to practice.

    Governor Emmanuel led administration has extended his efforts at transforming the Akwa Ibom state Health sector to reach institutions saddled with the responsibility of training manpower for the health sector with the distribution of various intervention items and as well as provision of basic amenities to the various schools of Nursing and well as Schools of Midwifery in the State.

    Just last week, the quaternary health facility in Akwa Ibom State, the Ibom Special Hospital had recorded a major feat in her operations with a successful neurosurgery carried out in the hospital.

    It looks to me that Governor Udom Emmanuel clearly understands how a functional healthcare delivery sector fits into the larger picture of the socio-economic standing of the people he is privileged to govern. This thinking is strengthened by the fact the Governor was recently quoted to have said that the huge resources his administration was channeling into the results-oriented task of improving the State healthcare delivery sector is not an expense but an investment on the people whose mandate he holds in trust.

    Let’s face it. Through these audacious moves in the State’s health sector, Governor Emmanuel is only providing an insurance of some sort to the people of Akwa Ibom since all his efforts at wealth creation, job availability, infrastructural expansion and poverty alleviation, will make no meaning without a healthy population people to enjoy them.

    Borono Bassey, a Public Affairs analyst, wrote in from Uyo.

     

  • Healthcare Delivery: NMA honors Gaidam for excellence

    Healthcare Delivery: NMA honors Gaidam for excellence

    In recognition of his milestone achievement in the health sector of the state, Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on Monday got the conferment of an award of Excellence from the The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Yobe State Chapter.

    According to the organizers of the award ceremony, Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam is poles apart from other states of the federation in the area of healthcare delivery in the state through his deliberate reforms and programs in the sector.

    The award was presented to the governor by the National President of NMA, Prof. Mike Ogrima on behalf of the state chapter of the association at an elaborate ceremony held at the State Cultural Centre Damaturu which was full to capacity.

    Prof. Ogrima who was represented by NMA’s Second Vice President, Dr. Adamu Alhassan Umar, a son of the soil from Yobe State attested to the fact that significant progress has been made in the state especially in the health sector.

    the  NMA president, tagged  Gov. Gaidam as a ‘pillar of support for the health sector’, said doctors in the country are impressed with  the ‘monumental achievements’ of the governor in all key sectors of the economy, especially in healthcare.

    “Generations yet unborn will benefit from the massive investments your administration has made in creating a peaceful atmosphere in the state and the gigantic legacies you will leave behind after your tenure in office. NMA is proud of all the robust measures you have taken to improve healthcare delivery in the state”, Prof. Ogrima said.

    The  State Chairman of the NMA, who is also the deputy chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Yobe University Teaching Hospital (YSUTH) Dr. Adamu Abdullahi said his association conferred the award on the governor after careful consideration of all the interventions that he has made so far in the state’s healthcare sector.

    He said Yobe today is a much better place because of the concerted commitment of the governor to making qualitative healthcare accessible and affordable to the people.

    He called on the governor also invest heavily in the human resource of the state and the welfare of medical and health worker, as according to him, “the situation is green but His Excellency, you can make it greener”.

    State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Muhammad Bellow Kawuwa  who chronicled the various health interventions of the governor in the state described the situation as hitherto  “comatose and dysfunctional” and was characterized by “dilapidated infrastructure, old and obsolete equipment. and acutely inadequate manpower”.

    “The health indices in the state at the take-off of the administration were worrisome and disturbing. We were ranked amongst the worst in maternal and child care”, he said.

    Dr. Bello Kawuwa noted that the reverse in the trend   began when   Gov. Gaidam came to power and assumed a new urgency and declared an emergency in the health sector in May 2013.

    “The declaration of emergency in the sector was followed by massive capital investments.  The renovation, rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of health facilities ensued across the state”, he said.

    The commissioner said the health sector is now better poised to deliver quality care to patients, not just in the state but other parts of the country as well.

    While expressing appreciation for the award conferred on him, Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam said he will continue to push the boundaries in healthcare in the state.

    “Let me place on record that the inadequacies that characterized the health sector in our State which included gross lack of infrastructural facilities and human resources, funding gaps, lack of adequate equipment, furniture, and other working materials, etc. was the reason why we declared a State of emergency in the health sector in 2013.

    “This culminated in our administration taking far reaching and holistic measures to address the multiple challenges facing the sector”, the governor said.

    The governor, who reviewed all the milestones reached by his administration in improving healthcare through massive rehabilitation of health facilities, setting up the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital and the College of Medical Sciences at the Yobe State University as well as massive recruitment of healthcare personnel, amongst others, said the challenege facing the sector now is “attitudinal change”.

    “I wish to emphasize that considering the attention our administration has accorded the health sector , our problems should no longer be viewed from the perspective of lack of facilities, but rather on the need for attitudinal change.

    “Therefore, I wish to appeal to all our health workers to resolve to work with dedication to enable us achieve significant progress in delivering services to our people. This way we can look forward to a time when all sorts of ailments can be satisfactorily treated here at home in keeping with our vision of making Yobe a center of medical tourism in Nigeria, In-sha Allah.  This is my charge and challenge to you all,” he said.

    The Nation recalled that the governor was just last week conferred with an Honorary Membership of   the Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) in Sokoto for rejuvenating the healthcare services in Yobe State.

  • ‘Education, others can transform health sector’

    Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, has recommended that to improve the reproductive health system in the state and across the federation, there must be mass education, increased investment in health, good governance, social and economic empowerment of women. Other issues to be addressed according to him, are strengthening of health services, development of a rights-based code of ethics and domestication of international conventions.

    Dr Idris stated this at the maiden lecture and award series of Inspiration 92.3fm, with the  theme: “Amazing Reproductive Health- reproductive health across life’s course”, held at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, Lagos. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode  was the special guest of honour at the lecture.

    According to Dr Idirs, issues that affect reproductive health include age; rural-urban dwellers; education; socio-economic status; work; cultural and social norms; such as female genital mutilation; early marriage; female disinheritance; gender and socio-economic issues; human rights; existing laws; policies; regulations and strategies.

    According to the commissioner, that is why a state like Lagos has 24.2 per cent of women having their first sexual intercourse before the age of 18 years. This is verified by the National Demographic and Health Survey and the Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey, which reported that 24.2 per cent of women in Lagos had their first sexual intercourse before attaining the age of 18 years.

    The national figures of women that have sex before the age of 18 is about 51 per cent. In Lagos, one out of every four women would have been exposed to sex before 18 and the national average for Nigeria is one of two women.

    He said: “The difference in these figures might be attributed to several factors, such as female education, urbanisation, child marriages etc. With an average age at first birth at 20 years, about 22.5 per cent of pregnancies are from teenagers in Nigeria. More worrying, however, is that reports showed that as at this year, about 40 per cent of women in the Southwest have experienced physical violence since age 15 and sexual violence cannot be excluded from these statistics.”

    According to him, “in a country where more than 60 per cent of its population are young people and significant numbers of these youths are exposed to sexual intercourse at an early age, either voluntarily or violently, a lot of potential problems emerge.

    “Such problems are associated with sexually transmitted infections; childhood pregnancy; trauma and its accompanying physical and mental health implications. This means that there must be access to knowledge about sexual health and systems that modify behaviour, as well as access to services that prevent and manage them.”

    Acting Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Ademola Mogbojuri, represented by Mrs Bolaji Abayomi, advised mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of delivery and continue to breastfeed their babies for three years with the addition of supplements in order to make for healthy living of the child.

    Chairman of the occasion and founder of Benola, a non governmental organisation (NGO) with focus on Palsy, Air Vice Marshal Femi Gbadebo (rtd), said for proper reproductive healthcare, the issues of ante-natal, mother and child care, among others, must be addressed. “We need to educate ourselves on what needs to be done,”he said.

    In his remarks, Amazing Inspiration Media Chairman, Mr. Erastus Akingbola, said the decision to hold the lecture was borne out of the need to contribute to the issue of healthy living among the people.

    Represented by Mr. Soni Irabor, Akingbola  said the best approach to solving issues around reproductive health is when there is a forum for people to break the silence on it for a common solution.

    He also disclosed that since the radio station has a passion for every segment of the society, there was the need to accord priority to the well being of the citizens by providing swift and genuine information on how to address their health challenges.

    Guest Speaker, Chief Executive Officer, SLOT Systems Limited, Nnamdi Ezeigbo, said IT and telecommunication play influential role in any society. “It is high time government explored this avenue to educate youth. And equally plan for a robust society that can boast of vibrant health because the government has loaded the airwaves and communication with reliable and adequate information that are easily accessible,”he said.

  • Corruption and the health sector

    Corruption and the health sector

    SIR: The recent revelation by the wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on the deplorable condition of the Aso Rock Clinic, Abuja is quite disturbing. As the matriarch of the nation’s first family and its chief caregiver, Mrs Buhari owes her family the sacred duty of ensuring that their well-being and healthcare needs are met at the state house health facility in the Aso Villa.

    Mrs Buhari’s exposé affirms the widely held notion that all is not well with the nation’s health sector. If the state house clinic, which is supposed to be primus inter pares among other health facilities in the country is not better than a glorified consulting station, one can only imagine the dire straits other hospitals are in. When this is weighed alongside the recent strikes by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), as well as the imbroglio between the Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewoye, and Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, our health sector might soon enter a state of shock.

    The allegation of fraud and other disreputable issues emanating from the Ministry of Health, following the suspension of Professor Yusuf by Professor Adewole deserve some scrutiny. The NHIS boss, who was suspended over allegations of fraud and abuse of office, was quick to counter the action, describing it as a witch-hunt. He alleged that he was suspended because he refused to grant several monetary requests from the Federal Ministry of Health.

    It is instructive to note that such allegations of corruption, official recklessness and unethical conduct among parastatals, agencies and committees in the health ministry are not new.

    The Buhari administration must begin to walk its talk in its fight against corruption by cleansing the Federal Ministry of Health. The president’s antecedents in fighting corruption raised expectations from Nigerians on his ability to deal with the social malaise, upon resumption of office, and revive the economy from the ashes of accumulated monumental corruption. Of course, there have been promising signs in this regard but the expectations are yet to be fully met. Therefore, the present situation in the Ministry of Health and government-owned health institutions is a litmus test for the anti-corruption crusade.

    The House of Representatives Committee on Health Services should extend its investigation to every department of the ministry and refer any criminal finding to the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies for prosecution. All those named and implicated in the allegation should be made to face the full wrath of the law. Also, efforts must be made to ensure that there is strict adherence to financial regulations in cooperation between MDAs and other arms of government and their parastatals.

    The allegations of corruption in the nation’s health sector are too grave to ignore, considering the critical nature of services it provides and thus should be given serious thoughts and met with firm actions.

     

    • Rasheed Adegeye, Abuja.

  • Governors urged to revamp health sector

    A member of the House of Representatives representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency, Bamidele Baderinwa, at the weekend urged state governments across the country to empower their health sector.

    Speaking with reporters in Akure, the Ondo State capital, over the outbreak of monkey pox in some states, Baderinwa called on the remaining states to forestall the spread of the dreaded disease.

    His words: “We call on our state governments to give more attention to the health sector in the interest of the people, especially the masses who may not have the wherewithal to take care of themselves.”

    Baderinwa said the lawmakers would put in place legislation that will safeguard the health of the nation in the interest of national development.

    The lawmaker specifically called on the Ondo State government to set up machinery aimed at guiding the borders of the state with other neighbouring states to avoid the spread of monkey pox.

    Baderinwa declared that the National Assembly will not rest on its oars at ensuring that the health of Nigerians is given the adequate attention it deserves.

  • Corruption, governance and ailing health sector

    Recent developments in the nation’s health sector suggest that all is not well. Particularly, they serve as warning signals to the health minister, Professor Isaac Adewole, and other principal officers in the ministry to keep their house in order. At the time of writing, the nation’s health institutions are almost paralysed as a result of industrial actions by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU). Sadly, this is coming on the heels of the exchange of accusations of fraud between the Health Minister and the Executive Secretary, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf.

    In the view of industry watchers, part of the reasons for the crises was because matters were left to degenerate under the watch of the minister and his team as they failed to pay attention to burning issues thereby losing the opportunity to nip the crises in the bud.

    A persistent challenge in the Nigerian health sector is human resources’ crisis, which has the tendency to cripple the sector. Inadequate investment, weak administration and corruption remain the cause of poor health workers’ welfare and the widespread inefficiency in the healthcare work force. The importance of a country’s health workforce cannot be overemphasized; it is the building block needed for health systems to function effectively and to have a healthy populace. A vibrant health workforce can only be driven by the existence of a dedicated healthcare governance structure which provides the administrative framework for the health system to successfully function and achieve set national health objectives.

    No doubt, the lingering crises within the health work force are a big constraint to health system development and sustenance in the country. If not given the desired attention by the health minister and the minister of labour and productivity, the crises will simply compound the existing shortfall in the national health coverage. When health workers’ unions embark on incessant industrial actions as a result of unfulfilled promises or resolutions by government and health authorities, it creates more burdens for the already inadequate healthcare services and disease control efforts.

    A key reason often attributed to the incessant strikes in the nation’s health sector is poor remuneration and welfare of health workers. Workers in different health institutions in the country have, on different occasions, expressed their grievances over poor and inconsistent salaries and deplorable working conditions through industrial actions or threats of such actions. The recently suspended strike by doctors under the umbrella of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and other professional unions in the health sector exemplify this.

    There have also been supremacy tussles among medical professional unions, complaints of marginalisation and discrimination in the appointment of health authorities in the Ministry of Health, widespread discrepancies in the remuneration of health workers on the same grade levels across the various levels of government, among others. Allegation of undue favouritism/privilege towards a particular professional group in the health sector at the expense of other professional groups is also rife. This supremacy tussle, which is usually between medical doctors and other healthcare professionals, has prompted the alignments and realignments among various professional unions in the sector.

    Furthermore, poor healthcare services and the failure to fix the health sector are other issues that should be critically examined. They are often the primary reason for the rampant overseas medical treatment by many wealthy citizens of the nation who have lost faith in the Nigerian health system. This practice, which has come to be known as medical tourism, is now commonplace and grossly abused. It is no longer news that some personnel and professionals in the health ministry now run a racket with it by indiscriminately and corruptly recommending overseas medical treatment for top government functionaries for all manner of ailments, including those that can be handled in the country’s healthcare facilities and by its health experts. Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewole, rightly attested to this at a public forum sometime last year where he noted that “medical tourism to India is a racket and the country loses billions of naira yearly due to the fraud.”

    It is imperative for the President to swing into action to prevent the crises in the health ministry from festering. The Ministry of Health should demonstrate the capability to address grievances by trade unions of workers under its employ. The Ministry of Labour must endeavour to bring all warring parties in this matter to the table in order to seek an amicable resolution. This crisis, if not checked by the appropriate authorities, will ultimately hinder the nation from achieving optimum healthcare delivery to its populace.

    Moreover, failure to swiftly resolve this crisis may result in public healthcare services being further priced beyond the Nigerian masses, many of whom cannot afford private healthcare services given the present economic situation. It is instructive to note that the seeming inability of government to effectively tackle prevalent health sector crisis in the country is the reason private healthcare service is barely affordable by the average Nigerian. This reason also directly or remotely accounts for why child and maternal mortality rates remain alarmingly high and preventable/curable diseases like malaria, meningitis and poliomyelitis continue to afflict the country.

    Above all, the minister of health must show strong resolve in ensuring efficient healthcare governance and management of their workforce. Any nation that wants to boast of a viable economy must have a vibrant health sector.

     

    • Odusile writes from Lagos

  • Niger, others to get $20b health intervention fund  

    The Niger State health sector is set to get a boost as the state has been listed among those to benefit from the $20 billion National Healthcare Intervention Fund.

    The state Desk Officer of the Nigeria Global Financing Facility (GFF), Pharmacist Hamza Tijani disclosed this when he received members of Coalition of Civil Society and the Media in Niger state (COMiN) on advocacy visit to his office.

    Tijani who is also the Director Planning and Statistics of the State ministry of Health said that the first tranche of N1.5 million will soon be  a released to the states earmarked to benefit from the intervention fund citing Ania and Osun states as the other beneficiaries.

    He stated that the fund is expected to be channelled  towards primary health care services, national health insurance scheme, Accidents and Emergency services.

    Tijani then commended members of the Coalition for the advocacy and hard work which has been supported to the government in the provision of functional health care service delivery in the state.

    Earlier, the Chairperson of CoMiN, Mrs. Mary Jalingo said the Coalition was in the ministry to collaborate and seek areas of partnership to improve primary health care delivery system in the state.

    She stated that although the state is doing well in the health sector, it can do more adding that there is need for sensitisation on nutrition, routine immunisation and mother and child health across the state.

  • Why health sector must be rescued ,by Zuakah

    A professor of Community Medicine from the University of Jos Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Ayuba Zuaka has decried the level of decay in the health sector with a call on the federal government to come to the rescue of the sector before it collapsed.

    Professor Zuakah made the call in a remark during the graduation and induction ceremony of the 4th set of medical students of Bingham University held at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BUTH) Jankwano, Jos.

    Zuakah, who was giving a word of advice to the graduating students, said: “The health sector of the country is in a mess at the moment; that is why the rate of medical tourism is on the increase. Many Nigerians that are well-to-do visit the U.K. or America to get their medical challenged resolved. Those who cannot go to London or America will choose to go to Ghana or South Africa.”

    He said the surge in medical tourism is a strong sign that the country’s medical system is nothing to write home about.

    Zuakah told the students, “Now that you are graduating today, you have been challenged to go out there and bring your knowledge and skills to bare, so as to rescue our medical system from total collapse. There is a wide gap of manpower needs in the health sector, go and cover the gaps. You have been equipped with the skills and knowledge to change the world positively.

    “I urged the federal government to act fast with necessary intervention to save our health sector from total collapse.” He said.

    The professor also advised the students to stick to the ethics of the profession: “Go to the field with the basic ethics your were taught in the university, know your limit as a professional, remember the dos and don’ts, never assume to know everything, do not make money a priority; rather make saving lives your priority.”

    While administering the oath on the graduating students, Dr. Tahir Sanusi, acting provost, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria told the young medical doctors not to develop the penchant for seeking jobs outside the country.

    He reminded them that the oath they took is for them to rededicate their lives for humanitarian services and not make money their priority.

    The acting Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Alexandra Babatunde applauded parents of the graduands for investing in their children and urged the students to be the good ambassadors of the university.

    One of the graduating students who responded on behalf of her mates, Miss Izu-Chukwu Nnedinma Stephen assured the institution that they will continue to make the church proud and not to do anything to bring the institution into disrepute.

  • Akwa Ibom: Taking revolution to health sector

    The primary essence of government is to protect lives and property. Apart from the physical protection which connotes well-equipped security apparatuses and personnel, there is also the protection of life through efficient healthcare system. This is of immense importance as its absence allows diseases to strut innocuously but with the collateral consequence of avoidable population decimation.

    A trite saying asserts that “health is wealth”. Aside from the various shades of meaning deducible from this expression, it could also be inferred that a population with good health is a gain to the workforce of that society. The contrary is also a deficit and places such society at a disadvantage.

    A more narrow but pragmatic narrative on the imperative of good healthcare system can be seen in the case of individuals. Of course only a healthy person can achieve set goals. A wise saying parodies this in our local parlance which could be loosely cast as “the sick cannot keep pace with his peers”.

    There is therefore a relationship between health as a factor and the economy of any society. It is why good leaders invest enormously in the health sector to achieve optimum health for the people in the understanding that it is a critical resource to economic buoyancy of the society.

    Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Premier of Western Nigeria in the 50s paid priority to education and health. When he declared free education in that region, he guided the people through what they should prioritize in schools as courses of study. They included Law, Medicine, Banking and Finance, etc. Medicine like education was given premium consideration to ensure the maintenance of a healthy workforce. He often noted that it was the absence of education and lack of access to healthcare that bred superstition that was germane to untimely and premature death of the people.

    The primacy accorded good healthcare delivery system is very eloquent in the Western world. Apart from ensuring that hospitals are well equipped with efficient medical personnel, the system also ensures that access to facilities is not hindered by bureaucratic obstacles. The health insurance policy makes access to healthcare easy for all. Those societies value and respect the sanctity of life of their citizenry in recognition that only a society of healthy people can produce a healthy workforce.

    Governor Udom Emmanuel ofAkwa Ibom State, an urbane former banker, has focused intently on the health sector even though it was not part of his 5–point agenda. Apart from his zeal that has necessitated the slogan, “working beyond the promise”, it is safe to say that the governor having studied and had reasonable grasp of the fundamentals of good governance, sees the imperative of providing for the health of the citizenry as  a non-negotiable given. It was why at the blast of the whistle for the commencement of his tenure, he headed to St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, where he gave the hospital a massive facelift. He also added to the complex a brand new building named after Dr. Ann Ward, an Irish female gynaecologist and Reverend Sister who once worked in that hospital.

    Today, the hospital which was established in 1937 wears a fascinating look owing to Governor Udom’s magnanimous gesture. It must be stated that the said facility is not owned by government. But for him, it is a facility that Akwa Ibom people use and so must enjoy government’s intervention.

    The governor’s vision for the health sector seems to align with the postulation of a Swiss writer, Henry Frederic Amiel which noted, “In health, there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties”. His vision can therefore be said to be that of an unencumbered citizenry that have internalized the cutting edge “Dakkada” creed that is already evolving Akwa Ibom indigenes into global icons. Swarmed by the achievements recorded by Akwa Ibom youngsters everywhere on the globe, the governor understandably seeks to create a liveable environment for the people with access to state-of-art facilities including that of health.

    Governor Emmanuel’s attention to healthcare sector smacks of a revolution. Containers of medical equipment are arriving the state in droves. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Charles Udoh announced that about seven containers had already arrived the state with nine still awaiting shipment to Uyo from Port Harcourt. Currently, some of the equipment are being used to equip General Hospital, Etinan. According to the commissioner, the hitherto dilapidated GeneralHospital, Etinan, now wears the look of a rehabilitated and completely refurbished state hospital. He said that the governor is planning to replicate the same gesture in all the General Hospitals in the state. Just recently, the Secretary to the State Government, Sir Etekamba Umoren carried out an on-the-spot exhaustive facility tour of Ikot Ekpene General Hospital obviously with regard to the same intent. Not long ago, Governor Emmanuel flagged off the construction of an ultra-modern General Hospital at Ituk Mbang. Elucidating on the project, the information commissioner stated that the hospital which is strategically located at the site of the existing hospital at Ituk Mbang is meant to service Uyo metropolis and the Ibom International Airport.

    The governor’s emphasis on healthcare and sensitivity to the health of his people also draw testimony in his inauguration of an Emergency Response Training Programme comprising 25 doctors and 75 nurses. The body is designed to provide interventions to emergencies like the unfortunate Reigners Church incident. According to Charles Udoh, the governor through this massive investment in the health sector is taking a bold step to stem the tide of medical tourism abroad as well as reduce congestion on the tertiary and quaternary medical facilities in the state.

    Government’s huge investment in the health sector is in line with the Udom administration medical reforms which started in May. As the governor once noted, “a healthy population gives rise to a wealthy population”. According to the governor, an investment in the health sector is in the interest of Akwa Ibom people and therefore not an expense. He said that having been exposed to first class medical facilities in the world; he was under obligation to deliver same to Akwa Ibom people.

    Healthcare services constitute a strong human need that every responsible government must pay attention to. Sadly, the nation’s healthcare delivery system from primary, secondary to tertiary have been in comatose for years with successive governments paying not more than lip serve on its resuscitation. In 1983, in a coup speech, late General Sani Abacha said that “our hospitals have become mere consulting clinics”. Not much has changed in many parts of the country with frequent loss of lives in minor medical conditions as evidence. Governor Emmanuel’s deliberate reforms in that sector must be seen as a welcome development and an action plan by the administration to make the life of every Akwa Ibom person the state’s priority.

     

    • Iniodu is a public affairs analyst.