Infrastructural deficit bane of healthcare delivery, says Jonathan

Former President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, said poor investment in healthcare infrastructures across the country is a major reason why many Nigerians travel abroad to seek medical care at a very high cost.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of a three day Bayelsa Health Summit in Yenagoa, Dr Jonathan further said that it is more disturbing to learn that countries Nigerians travel to for medical care depend largely on private sector-driven healthcare facilities.

He said this is one of the major reasons he signed the National Health Bill into law but decried the fact that the law has not been fully utilised by the government to improve healthcare service delivery in the country.

While commending the Bayelsa State government for organising the three days health summit, he urged the Federal government to also organise a summit to discuss National Health Law, as about 30 per cent of doctors in the country have little or no idea about the benefits of the law.

He said “many Nigerians travel abroad to seek medical attention but if you go to the countries they travel to you would discover that it privately owned hospitals that thrive in those countries. This was why I conceived the plan to build massive health facilities across the six zones of the country while I was president.

“The plan was to bring back all Nigerian doctors working abroad back to Nigeria. But to achieve this we needed a law that would give the plan a solid foundation. As president, I signed many bills into law and three out of these bills still make me happy. They are the National Health Bill, FOI Bill and Local Content Bill.

“Out of the three, the FOI and Local Content Laws are doing well but the impact of the National Health Law is yet to be felt by Nigerians. This is because 30 per cent of doctors in Nigeria know little or nothing about the National Health Law.

“I am appealing to the Federal Government to organize a summit like this to educate doctors and Nigerians about the importance and benefits of the bill. My advice is that we should incorporate government plans into private-sector owned health facilities to ensure good healthcare delivery.”

Also speaking, the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, said that the essence of the summit is aimed at developing a roadmap that would ensure an improved healthcare performance plan that would give the needed attention to the health sector in the state.

He further reiterated his administration’s resolve to ensure that good health care is given to every Bayelsa which according to him serves as the benchmark to good governance.

He said “the 2018 National Demographic Health Survey only half of the pregnant women got antenatal care from trained providers, likewise only half of the children got immunised while the HIV prevalence rate remains high in Bayelsa State.

“This statistics is disappointing to Bayelsa considering the massive investment by previous administrations in the health sector. So that is the reason why I have prioritised this summit which is intended to give stakeholders a platform to seek answers.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has warned Nigerians that the country is still under threat of a third COVID-19 wave, urging frontline health workers and citizens not to relax their guard.

He said although the country recorded major success in its response to COVID-19 that news of the havoc COVID-19 is wreaking on India, Thailand, Argentina and Brazil should be a warning to Nigerians.

He said, “as many countries around the world, including Nigeria, have learned, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed health system weaknesses but at the same time showed their resilience and capacity to respond when challenged.”

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