Posted on: Wed 07-07-2021

Thirty individuals and institutions were last week honoured with the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award, NHEA even as the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi said the state lost 14 health professionals to COVID-19.

Among the awardees were  Smile Train,  GE, Sterling Bank, Lagos State Government, JNCI, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta; St. Nicholas Hospital, The Bridge Clinic, Vanguard Pharmacy,  and DCL Laboratory,  among others.

Speaking at the event tagged: “Celebrating Our Healthcare Heroes, while Lagos state commissioner for health, Prof Akin Abayomi who represented the State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said: “During the battle of COVID-19, we lost 14 of our health professionals – 12 doctors and two nurses.

“Due to people still dying of COVID-19 around the world, we implored the third wave committee to stop Lagos State from going to the third wave. The team is to make sure that we can carry on with our economic livelihood in the centre of excellence.

“We have a policy not to receive any award on COVID-19 because the disease still exists, but today we are here to acknowledge some of the bravery of all the health front line workers.”

It was a double honours for Lagos State as the state emerged as the most responsive COVID-19 State Government of the Year, while the state’s Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, was celebrated as the Most Outstanding COVID-19 State Health Commissioner of the Year at the event.

Abayomi, while receiving the ward hailed all health workers in Lagos State, saying the awards were dedicated to the healthcare practitioners who were committed to their work since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Speaking at the event well attended by different personalities across the country, the Chairman, NHEA Advisory Board, Dr. Anthony Omolola, said they were proud of the 2021 awardees and how they have demonstrated excellence in the past year despite the challenges of COVID-19.

He recalled that NHEA had in March 2021, called for nominations that lasted for two months and received over 20,000 nominations and the NHEA Jury shortlisted over 100 nominees made up of organisations and individuals both from the public and private sectors for voting.

“The juries made a shortlist based on published criteria for each set of awards for online voting on the NHEA voting portal. We also evaluated claims of nominees simultaneously across the country. In a bid to continuously improve our current process to meet international best practice, there was tremendous use of technology with improved security features.”

Also,  NHEA Lifetime Achievement award was conferred on; General Aderonke Kale (rtd), Professor John Idoko, and Pharm. (Dr.) John Nwaiwu at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

NHEA is aimed at recognizing and celebrating the achievements of personalities and organizations who have contributed immensely to the growth and development of the Nigerian health sector in the past year.

In addition, recognizes the rapid growth of Nigeria’s healthcare sector, the role of technology and the capacity of organizations and individuals to influence and set new performance standards in Nigeria and beyond.

NHEA, the Oscar of Nigeria healthcare is supported by PharmAccess Foundation, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria Medical Association, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria,  etc.

The Award is organised by Global Health Project and Resources (GHPR) in collaboration with Anadach Group, USA.

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