Healthcare: Ekiti don warns govt against neglect of informal sector workers

A professor of public health and community medicine at the Ekiti State University Ado-Ekiti, Olusegun Bamidele has called on government at all levels not to neglect the categories of workers in the informal sector in the series of their healthcare programmes.

The don who underscored the importance of artisans and others in the sector to the development of the economy noted that adequate and quality healthcare should be extended to them, explaining that they might not have the financial wherewithal to afford the increasingly high cost of medical services.

Professor Bamidele who stated this while delivering the fifty-seventh inaugural lecture of the university titled, ‘Occupational Health Services –The Dilemma of the Unsung and Neglected Informal Sector Workers ‘ explained that the workers in the informal sector are more exposed to stress and hazard in the course of their work than their counterparts in the formal sector,

According to him, these informal workers live in extreme poverty and could not afford to leave their work in pursuit of medical services, adding that government should take into cognizance their plights when planning and formulating policies in the health sector.

He said, “Over 700 million informal workers live in extreme poverty and often cannot bear the financial and opportunity cost of receiving health services and losing a day’s work. The informal sector workers face greater job insecurity and stress than workers who are formally employed and they have little to no access to affordable , quality healthcare.

“A major reason for early easing of the lockdown in 2020 was in government’s succumbing to the cries and agony of the informal sector workers who could not cope economically and financially to take care of their family members.

“I put it to this audience that in most cases the informal sector workers are the ones that make things happen though they are relatively paid peanuts for the services they render. The Nigerian informal sector is a major contributor to the Nigerian economy, accounting for a significant portion of employment and national Gross Domestic Product.”

On what government should do, Bamidele, who is the provost of the college of medicine said, “ a very important practical goal is the need to include these neglected informal sector workers through their various trade unions, in the discussion of occupational health problems, in planning and organizing strategies for control and prevention of the hazards they are constantly being exposed to especially counselling them on smoking and diet.“

He added that there is a need for periodic medical examinations to be made compulsory and accessible to all the informal sector workers through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at well-equipped comprehensive health centres across the local government areas in the country.

To secure and improve the security of life of health workers in the communities, he suggested that, “ there is the need for government at all levels to increase political commitment to secure access to areas not easily accessible due to security concerns.”

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Olanipekun commended the inaugural lecturer, ” for his in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing the workers in the informal sector and proffering solutions to the problems.”

Olanipekun however stated that not only those in the informal sectors are facing difficulties in accessing quality and affordable healthcare services but every other member of the society.

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