Catholic church urges FG to equip healthcare centres

The Catholic Church has charged the Federal Government to equip healthcare centres to encourage health workers to do their work with devotion, love and passion.
The Director, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Fr. Uchechukwu Obodoechina, made the call during the celebration of the World Day of the Sick in Abuja, yesterday.
Obodoechina said that the Church was doing well in the provision of various facilities in different local churches and therefore urged the Federal Government to give subvention to the churches.
He expressed disappointment at the failure to utilise the 425 hospitals and clinics offered to government by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to be used as isolation centres in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
“What we have been doing is not enough. The Church does not have the resources at her disposal to give a 100 per cent healthcare services for everyone is rural areas.
”The government of the country should have been able to give subvention to Church facilities, equip them to give a 100 per cent healthcare services for everyone in rural areas because at the end of the day, the services are to Nigerians,” he said.
Obodoechina however said that the World Day of the Sick was instituted by St. Pope John Paul II in 1992 to draw attention to the reality of pain and sickness in lives and to know that sickness and pains were part of human lives.
Rev. Fr. Ukeme-Abasi Bassey, the Office of the Secretary General, CSN, said the theme for this year’s conference: ”Trust-based relationship in the care of the sick’’ was important to draw attention to the need to care for the sick.
Bassey said that it was to reemphasised the need for the people to know that “life is sacred’’ adding that the sacredness of life was still as supreme as it was when God first made life.
”Many policies have been put in place and should be implemented. The funds meant for the development of the healthcare system should be released on time and appropriately utilised.
”Government should prioritise the welfare of the healthcare workers because a time will come in life when you cannot seek medical help outside the country.
”This is important in this era of COVID-19 to ensure that people are not left hopeless. We have to give people hope.
”We must think about the sick, pray and encourage them with kind words. It is also a day to remind healthcare workers to give proper care and attention to them,” he said.