Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has said the delay in implementation of the National Health Act, NHA, was devastating, stating that, the absence of funding for primary healthcare system might have stalled the Act.
Okowa spoke at the 10th annual Fellow congress and scientific conference of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.
He called for ‘strong advocacy to assist President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to embrace the implementation of the NHA.
Okowa said, it is imperative that parts of the NHA that require funding of primary health care were crucial and that there must be provision for it in the 2016 appropriation.
“It is just drawing our consciousness to where we are at the moment. There is a new administration. We need to carry out a lot of advocacy—they were not there when (the Act) was passed into law,” Okowa said.
“What I feel we need now is a clear national strategy that defines the comprehensive vision of a health care system that creates value for both the patient and healthcare provider and the processes required to achieve it,” he added.
He also stated,”Since December, the Federal health ministry put up several committees meant to draw up framework to guide every aspect of the Act, including regulation roles and development of human resource for health, but are yet to produce results.”
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Linus Awute said, “Reports of the committees are being awaited right now. They have asked for extension, and I have given them.”
He expressed concern regarding the approach towards implementing the act, stating that,;“I don’t want a situation where people out there who know there’s an act will look at us as being stupid.”
President of the Postgraduate Medical College, Dr Rasheed Arogundade also sought intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to finance a proposed clinical skills and simulation laboratory to aid medical training.
“Our College, at the apex of medical education training, is currently feeling the impact of the prevailing national economic downturn because current zero allocation has grounded to a complete halt ongoing development of the College,” he said
By Victoria Ojeme
vanguard
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