Why tertiary hospitals should also benefit from TETFund —Don

A medical expert, Professor Philip Olatunji says tertiary hospitals in the country should be allowed to benefit from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) since these hospitals operate in the three levels of health care and are limited by poor funding.

Professor Olatunji, in his valedictory lecture entitled “Gown in Town: The Demeaning of the Ivory Tower” at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun State, said that poor funding had limited the hospitals.

According to him, the Federal Government could also consider allocating a percentage to tertiary health care, using the principle of TETFund to ensure these hospitals continue to run.

Olatunji, a professor of haematology, said no part of the basic healthcare provision fund established by the National Health Act 2014 is allocated to tertiary healthcare because of the erroneous belief that only a percentage of individuals require tertiary care.

“Anybody familiar with our tertiary hospitals will know that they operate in the three levels of healthcare, from primary to tertiary. When an individual, rich or poor, needs tertiary care due to trauma, systemic diseases or cancer, there is no substitute for tertiary care. Besides, the failure of our tertiary health system is the main reason for growing medical tourism with its foreign exchange implications,” he said.

The don, noting that poor funding and facility deficit had placed severe limitations on research effort, said without continuous learning, research and global interactions, the expectation of national development through universities will remain a mirage.

He declared that the intrusion of ethnicity, religion, politics, corruption and immorality had prevented developments emanating from Nigeria’s ivory towers.

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