Health Minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire
Health Minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire
The Honorable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has said
that the Federal Government is open to exploring Primary Health
Care (PHC) models that upgrade Primary health care centers to offer
round the clock services. The Minister made this known in Abuja, at
the Nigeria Health Watch Maternal Care Stakeholders Summit, theme:
Advancing quality maternal care in Nigeria: What are the missing
links?
He also said that partnerships that include private medical
services or Public Private Partnerships that increase the reach of
healthcare to rural dwellers where the gabs are most evident are
also being considered.
In his key note address, Dr. Ehanire said that many studies have
been carried out to identify the challenges in the provision of
healthcare services to Nigerians, particularly, women and children.
On this, he informed that the Federal Ministry of Health is working
assiduously to address the challenges, improve poor maternal and
child health indices and restore confidence in the health
system.
He stressed that efforts are being made to focus on
strengthening PHC service towards attainment of Universal Health
Coverage (UHC), as enshrined in Goal three of the Sustainable
Development Goals. The Minster explained that this would mean
improvements in reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health
+ Nutrition (RMNCAH +N) and the critical item of our health agenda
to provide access to free ante-natal care and delivery at primary
healthcare level.
According to Ehanire, achieving UHC coverage hinges on
delivering affordable, accessible and quality healthcare with a
greater focus on quality of care and improved patients’ experience.
Successful implementation of interventions meant to address
bottlenecks that hinder demand and supply for these services will
ultimately improve the overall health outcomes in the country, the
Minister added.
To this end, the Minister assured that the Federal government is
working on restoring and improving the midwifery service scheme to
leverage on the experience of retired midwives and those currently
unemployed.
These and similar interventions the Minister explained,
would alleviate the manpower challenges, employ , train young
people to be the links between the community and health facilities
and improve the health seeking behavior of citizens.
The Summit also featured Panel Discussions on topics like:
Importance of Listening to voices of women especially, women in
rural communities (1st Panel) and “Listening to the
voice of the Private Sector (2nd Panel).
Enefaa Bob-Emmanuel
Head Media and Public Relations