Posted on: Fri 17-07-2020

A  group of health professionals in Edo State, Better Health for Edo, has criticized the administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki over the poor state of healthcare in Edo while also endorsing the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, for having a detailed and realistic manifesto on how to provide quality and affordable healthcare for all. 

In a meeting with Prof. Dr. Idia Ize-Iyamu, the wife of the APC candidate and Consultant Orthodontist at the University of Benin Teaching hospital (UBTH), the group announced its formation of a ‘POI Health’ support group which includes members of the various subsectors in the health profession charged with the mandate to conduct health awareness campaigns at strategic points in Edo State to sell the POI health agenda to other professionals and members of the public. 

On her part, Prof. Dr. Ize-Iyamu expressed gratitude to the group for its support and assured them of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s commitment to the health sector in the state, including addressing the poor doctor to patient ratio, lack of needed infrastructure and an enabling environment. She said: “As a health professional myself with years of practice in the State, I am very familiar with all the issues you have raised. In Edo today, we have less than 200 doctors in all the 18 Local Government Areas of the state to serve 3.5million people. This has caused a poor ratio of one doctor for 17,500 people. The only good hospital we had as a state hospital, the Stella Obasanjo hospital which catered for a large number of diverse medical, surgical and gynecological issues was turned into a COVID-19 center.”

“The question now is where do those indigenes that have other medical issues now go?” “How can professionals work when the environment is not conducive? We have a goal, our medical profession must rise again. We must get our health care system right and it takes passion. We must believe in our profession and invest in it. Edo state should be the reference center for medicine. Let’s vote for our own, a medical professional. Accessibility is one of the strong points of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, but you can’t get this from other aspirants.” 

“Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu will deliver on his promises when elected. If you support us, we won’t disappoint you. I see a better future for Edo state and this is more so for Doctors.” “The SIMPLE agenda, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s manifesto, contains a detailed and workable plan for Doctors. His administration will provide the enabling environment and build infrastructure that will generate employment.”

Source: Vanguard

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