From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Federal Government has said that it will ensure that all Nigerians have access to needed health services including prevention, promotion, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation of sufficient quality to be effective while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user the financial hardship.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Prof. Ali Pate made the remarks in Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State, on Thursday during the official opening ceremony of the 64th National Council on Health with the theme: ‘Building Resilience And Inclusive Healthcare System For A Healthy Nigeria’
At the event, the Federal Government called for full cooperation of all State governments to ensure that health is giving topmost priority, promising to reposition the National Council on Health into a more effective platform.
Delivering his address, Pate said access to healthcare is a fundamental right, and institutional governance is the key to ensuring that this right is sustained.
“The health of our people is not just a matter of well-being but a fundamental human right. It is a measure of our commitment to equity, justice, and the dignity of every individual.
“Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is not a choice; it is an obligation, a promise to provide quality healthcare to all regardless of their socio-economic status. It is the embodiment of our vision for a healthier and more prosperous nation and a strategic advantage for us as a nation
” By strengthening healthcare infrastructure, optimizing service delivery, and promoting good governance, we pave the way for the realization of universal health coverage, leaving no one behind.
“As matter of urgent priority, we must focus on developing our current research ecosystem if we are to unlock the healthcare value chain that can generate tens of thousands of durable and sustainable jobs to our teeming young population. It is high time we began to use evidence-based approaches to drive our healthcare decision-making process and develop a well-coordinated knowledge transfer Platform.
“We are rejigging our health research ecosystem, to position us to attract significant investment into our healthcare sector and make Nigeria the destination and hub in sub Saharan Africa for research that will include but not limited to clinical trials, vaccine trials and genetic studies. We have recently reconstituted both the National Health Research Committee and the National Health Research Ethics Committee, and they shall be inaugurated in the next few weeks in line with the provision of the National Health Act 2014.”
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Health and Human Services, Dr Tunji Alausa said that the country must follow a realistic approach in the way it wants to respond to the current problems with Human Resource for health.
He also restated the directive to the Registrars and Chief Executive Officers ( CEOs) of the regulatory bodies for the Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists to double the intake of students in the next academic session to reverse the negative impact of the ‘Japa syndrome.’
“We have interrogated the production of Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, and all other Allied health workers in the Country. The Registrars and CEOs of these regulatory bodies have now been mandated to double the intake of students in the next academic session.
“While it may be difficult to prevent the migration of individuals for greener pastures, we can respond by increasing the pool of health workers that we graduate from our institutions on an annual basis, doing this will reverse the negative impact of the ‘Japa syndrome’ that we are currently witnessing.
“State governments are called to respond more in this our ambitious drive towards creating a sustainable pool of human resource for health by allocating more funding to the health care training institutions, infrastructure and proving more state of the art equipment to their various institutions,”
In his remarks, the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, who declared the ceremony opened identified research and development as the foundation for progress in every sector including healthcare. “Through research, we can generate data to guide decision-making and enhance our understanding of health challenges.
“Research is also critical for the development of effective interventions, and Ekiti State is eager to contribute to this collective effort by creating an environment conducive for research and development, hence our continued investments in higher education and the establishment of a knowledge zone.
“In the health sector, we have demonstrated significant commitment to improving the health status of our populace through a holistic approach to health systems development with particular emphasis on strengthening of our primary health care system to promote a preventive approach to health and as the entry point to care as we strive to achieve universal health coverage.”
The Governor also said embracing digital transformation is imperative in the 21st century. According to him, “nowhere is this more critical than in the health sector. Ekiti State is committed to harnessing the power of technology to enhance health information systems, streamline processes, and improve healthcare delivery. Hence our eagerness to collaborate on initiatives that leverage digital solutions for the betterment of our health sector.”