Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has said that the Federal Government plans to build 10,000 primary health centres in 774 local government areas to make medical care available to more Nigerians and decongest tertiary health institutions,
Speaking at the inauguration of 12 projects executed and completed by its Chief Medical Director, Dr. Majekodunmi Ayodele at Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti (FETHI), Adewole said that over 60 million indigent citizens would be given access to quality healthcare delivery within the next two years under the health agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He explained that Buhari was determined to alleviate the citizens’ sufferings in the area of quality healthcare by providing more facilities at both the primary and secondary health institutions.
The minister decried a situation in which minor health problems expected to be treated at primary and secondary health centres were taken to teaching hospitals, stressing that government planned to decongest tertiary health institutions by 70 percent.
“The tertiary institutions are not meant to treat malaria or skin rashes, but to attend to critical issues.
“We are determined to take away over 70 percent of patients from the teaching hospitals, but the heads of tertiary institutions must find a way to relate freely with this cadre for effective healthcare delivery.
“We won’t abandon that cadre so that the sequence of referral could be protected,” he said.
Adewole condemned incessant strikes by doctors in federal health institutions, saying the Federal Government would no longer tolerate “coups” against chief medical directors (CMDs).
“It is unfortunate that our national hospitals are better known for strikes, rather than services.
“The human factor is the most important; we should learn to put services above all other considerations in our agitations as medical practitioners because some of the cases I have handled in recent time were more of how to get more pay and not about commitment,” he added.
Source : http://en.starafrica.com/