Saving Lives, Reducing Physical, Financial Pain FG’s Priority – Health Minister
By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The Coordinating Minister for Health & Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate has stated that saving lives, reducing both physical and financial pain through affordable and accessing quality healthcare by Nigerians is a key pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda for the health sector.
Head, Information & Public Relations of the Ministry, Alaba Balogun disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday, October 24, 2023.
Balogun said the Minister gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen at Bauchi State during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Ministerial Leadership On Performance Management Systems ( PMS) organised by the Ministry.
Prof. Pate asserted that the present administration had taken actionable steps from assumption of office last year, that include expanding and upgrading of Teaching Hospitals across geopolitical zones of the country and provision of critical medical equipments that would produce health for all Nigerians, regardless of their income or where they come from.
These life saving measures and other various performance indices, he pointed out, were captured and being diligently implemented under the Health Sector Strategic Blueprint initiated by the Federal Ministry of Health & Social Welfare.
Continuing on this trajectory, the Coordinating Minister, as an instance, said: ”In Bauchi State, the people are beginning to to feel the impact of the President. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expanded the Teaching Hospitals, he has provided a new site for the Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospitals, a newly rated world class diagnostic centre is being built at the current site.
”The VVF centre in Ningi has a program for women who are affected by obstetric fistula , and is being strengthened to serve women from the North – Eastern part of the country from all over Nigeria who are coming here to get served.
“In Misau, a new Federal Medical Centre provided; and in Azare, an upgraded Teaching Hospital serving not only Bauchi State but the entirety of the North- East Geopolitical zone. That is, delivering the promise of this President to improve the health of Nigerians.”
On affordability of healthcare, Prof. Pate highlighted the importance of synergy and complimentary efforts of the sub-nationals and Local Governments in the health sector towards advancing and expanding primary healthcare and health insurance that will make Nigerians afford the care.
To this end, he asserted that, ”through health insurance, we have already seen more than 2.4 million Nigerians accessing affordable care from the vulnerable people, to expand health insurance, to expand human resources, with training and employment.”
Elaborating further, the Coordinating Minister explained that unlocking the value chain was an integral part of its Health Sector Strategic Blueprint initiative, “focusing on manufacturing things that we need, whether they are commodities, bednets, and other elements of the health care value chain, test kits and, we are committed to actualizing this objective, because that will create jobs for our teeming youths; as well as provide services, products that are needed to improve the health of Nigerians”, he said.
The 2024 Ministerial Leadership On Performance Management Systems ( PMS) was organized by the Ministry as a 3 – day event, spanning Monday 21 – 23 October, for its management staff, Chief Medical Directors of primary secondary and tertiary health institutions nationwide and CEOs of Agencies.
Emphasizing it’s importance, Prof. Pate said, ”we have discussed how to strengthen the leadership of the sector, how to hold ourselves accountable for performance and, how to improve the quality of Health care for all Nigerians. That is a very important agenda”.
