Pate, Alausa unfold agenda for health sector — Features — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News – Guardian Nigeria
As part of efforts to ensure actualisation of the Renewed Hope agenda of the present administration, the Coordinating Minister of Health, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate and the Minister of State for Health, Tunji Alausa, at the weekend unveiled an agenda to reform and reposition the Nigerian health sector to deliver quality health care services to Nigerians.
Anchored under strategic pillars of improving health governance, strengthening health security, and ensuring better population health outcomes, they noted that the aim is to save lives, reduce pains, both physical and financial, and improve health outcomes.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Pate said the government will mobilise private capital to invest in physical infrastructure, equipment and human resources to restore confidence in the nation’s health care system and discourage Nigerians from seeking medical treatment abroad for ailments that can be treated in the country.
He said: “We need to ensure that our hospitals function better so that our people will have confidence in our health system. We need to address the problem of the health workforce that we are losing so that health workers who have left the country can start coming back. We will transform our human resources for health, we will grow the pipeline of medical workers in the country and retain existing talents to limit the effects of emigration.”
Pate added: “If we improve the infrastructure, and address the issues affecting the health workers, it will go a long way in stopping the incessant strike in the health sector and some of the health workers who have left the country will come back.”
“The minister observed that as part of efforts to address the lingering strikes in the health sector, he had alongside the Minister of State and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, met with four of the professional associations and they acknowledged that there is need to put behind the rancours, begin to rebuild trust, and restore the respectability of the health profession.
Pate who noted that Nigeria has over 400,000 health workers of different categories, said that doctors’ ratio to population is below the World Health Organisation (WHO) requirements, hence the need to train more health workers
The minister assured that the government would strengthen the nation’s health security so that when outbreaks happen, they can be dealt with immediately.
He said state governments have a critical role to play in advancing the health sector, they need to build consensus that health is important
“We need to improve the quality of governance in health, so that there will be a way to appraise performance, reduce political interference and strengthen inclusion. Health can be a basis for reunifying this country, using the governance of health to improve cohesion. We will prioritise equity and be people oriented in service delivery. We will ensure access to all Nigerians, especially the most vulnerable populations. Our own mindset will become more people oriented to ensure people feel respected and valued.
“We will unlock value chains. We will enable production of medical devices, products and pharmaceuticals within Nigeria for Nigerians – supporting import substitution goals – and ensuring these products and services have sustainable markets and can reliably reach our citizens. We will ensure health security. We will ensure Nigeria is prepared and able to effectively respond to outbreaks, pandemics, and humanitarian crises,” he said.
On the issue of medical tourism, Pate who argued that the issue is not peculiar to Nigeria but a trend in both developed and developing countries, said: “What seems to be an issue is using public financing to fund it and missing the opportunity to keep some of the resources used in engaging in medical tourism back in the country. When I mentioned unlocking the healthcare value chain, it includes mobilising private capital to invest in the physical infrastructure and the human resources so that some of the services that people go to India for, we will have them here.
“We have begun discussing mechanisms or models where we’ll go on that path as part of expanding the value chain, so that it’s not necessarily publicly financed.”
Earlier, Alausa had revealed the Federal Government’s plan to digitise the nation’s health care system, and to roll out a National electronic medical record platform to ensure validated and reliable data that could be used to deliver care to the people.
“As we continue to build on the digitalisation of our healthcare system, one of the things we are going to be doing differently is also the way we regulate our healthcare system,” he said.
Alausa said the rising incidence of communicable diseases will become a big burden to the country if nothing is done urgently
Alausa said there is a need to overhaul the research centres in the country, adding that the government will create a research fund for the country.
The minister observed that the research institutions in the country are working independently, hence the need to rejig them to work collaboratively.
He said: “Right now, we have our research institutions and everybody is working independently. We will rejig our research institutions, make them work collaboratively and get them to do what they are meant to do.
“We have a lot of professors in the academia that are struggling, they are just by themselves, no resources for them to support their research projects. And as professors, less than 50 percent of your work should just be teaching students in the classroom, it is a lifelong dedication to research.
“We will unleash our clinical research, traditional research and basic research, we would put more money into research. As we do more research, we will begin to be independent on the pharmaceuticals, on medical devices and even on the way we put standard operating procedure and policy together. We will know which drug works better and which one that is not working. We will be really moving our research process into a more robust, focused and directional platform.”
He stressed the need for proper regulation of the health care system, so that health facilities could be held accountable.
“We have to hold our healthcare facilities more accountable. We have to hold our providers, physicians, and nurses more accountable. The way our healthcare system is being regulated now is very fragmented, we have to consolidate and unify our regulatory system,” Alausa said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Why are you flagging this comment?
I disagree with this user
Targeted harassment – posted harassing comments or discussions targeting me, or encouraged others to do so
Spam – posted spam comments or discussions
Inappropriate profile – profile contains inappropriate images or text
Threatening content – posted directly threatening content
Private information – posted someone else’s personally identifiable information
Before flagging, please keep in mind that Disqus does not moderate communities. Your username will be shown to the moderator, so you should only flag this comment for one of the reasons listed above.
We will review and take appropriate action.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
Follow Us
