Oyo govt to raise N50bn endowment fund to revamp hospitals

OYO State Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, says the state government is set to raise a N50 billion endowment fund to overhaul health care delivery in the state.

Adeduntan disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ibadan at the take-off of the state’s Free Medical Mission project.

He said that government needed the fund to renovate hospitals and replace obsolete medical equipment with new and modern ones.

“It is imperative that government raises the N50 billion fund because the challenges of providing high quality health care in Oyo State are many.

“Our hospitals were in shambolic state before this administration came in, but there has been an improvement in the area of equipment, drugs, dressings, and consumables.

“Adeoyo hospitals are being rated high in area of maternal mortality; 43 per cent reduction in malaria and polio free in the last seven years.

“With an endowment fund, our hospitals will be raised to best standards in the world and very soon Oyo hospitals will become a health Mecca of sort,” he said.

The commissioner said the Free Medical Mission would be duplicated in all the local government areas of the state to underscore the high premium government placed on health care delivery.

Adeduntan also disclosed that the Minister for Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, has approved the establishment of a Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) hospital in Oyo State.

“VVF is an abnormal fistula tract extending between the bladder and the vagina that allows the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vagina vault.

“Oyo state has been designated for the establishment of a VVF hospital and it will be the centre for other states in the South-West,” he said.