A medical practitioner, Dr Oke Kayode, has emphasised the need for government at all levels to collaborate with Non-Governmental Organisations in the country for improved health care delivery. Oke, who is the immediate past Director in-charge of NGOs in the Osun State Ministry of Health, stated that the health sector required a lot of funding. He stressed that partnership with NGOs was inevitable to improve the quality of health care services available for the people, especially the less privileged.

 

 Speaking during the opening ceremony of a medical outreach organised by the Career Bridge Foundation and Communitywide Charities at Ijebu-IJesa, the headquarters of Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State, he said, “Health is a very crucial sector. It requires a lot of funds. From my experience, that is why government at all levels need to collaborate with NGOs to complement their efforts.

 

 “The government in the interest of their people must do more by creating an enabling environment for these organisations.” Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer, Communitywide Charities, Shola Muyide, lamented the state of health facilities in the country.

 

He said the outreach would cater to 5,000 disadvantaged people in ijebu-Ijesa, Ilesa and their environs, adding that there were provisions to perform surgeries for no fewer than a thousand beneficiaries. He stated that participants whose case required continuous treatment would be enrolled in the National Health Insurance Scheme.