Gbajabiamila: House Committed to Increasing Health Allocation

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila has said that the House is committed to increasing the
allocation to the health sector with a view to improving the
well-being of Nigerians.

Speaking at a two-day training organised for health workers by
his office in Lagos, the Speaker said the programme was to improve
their capacity to be able to handle the COVID-19 situation
better.

Declaring the training open yesterday in Lagos, the speaker said
it was “part of efforts to ensure that health care professionals
have the skills they need to continue to do the incredible work
they have done so far.”

The Speaker, who paid glowing tributes to all health workers
across the country for the way they have handled the Covid-19
situation so far, said he believed they deserve more attention in
terms of training and capacity building.

“Through all of this, our medical professionals have shown
exemplary courage and commitment. Their efforts have renewed our
faith in the human spirit and shown us that we are, each one of us,
capable of extraordinary greatness, of courage beyond measure and
goodness beyond what we imagine in ordinary times,” he said.

He said: “This moment also requires that governments at all
levels continue to support the training, welfare and wellbeing of
the medical professionals who are at the forefront of this
existential battle. We owe them that much, and so much more.”

Gbajabiamila added that the House “has committed to increasing
the appropriations due to the health sector so that we can remedy
the weaknesses of infrastructure and capacity, access and quality
that bedevil our national health care system.

“It is also an example of what we can do when we work together,
across different levels of government and with the private sector
to deliver objectives that serve the best interests of all our
citizens.”

He expressed delight at the discovery of a vaccine that would
bring Covid-19 to an end, cautioning, however, that “Yet we must
recognise, and we must continue to act in the knowledge that we are
still far from the time when that vaccine will be perfect and
readily available to all the people of the world.”

“When the final account of this moment is given, we will not
forget to credit the health workers and medical professionals who
have helped us here in Nigeria, and others all over the world, to
manage and overcome the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“So, while we anticipate this medical breakthrough, we must
brace ourselves to deal with the reality of now. And the truth is
that we still have work to do to ensure that we survive this battle
against disease and death.

“That work begins with making sure that all our citizens
continue to observe the Covid-19 guidelines and keep looking out
for one another as we have done so far.”

Gbajabiamila thanked the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide
Sanwo-Olu, for personally attending the programme as well as other
partners and those that helped designed the programme.

Speaking, Sanwo-Olu, who acknowledged the fact that the Speaker
is doing both Lagos and Nigeria proud, said the training would
deepen the efforts of the Lagos State Government in ensuring that
health care is accessible and affordable to the people of the
state.

“For us in Lagos State, we’ll continue to see health delivery as
an important pillar in our team’s agenda. We have committed to see
that year on, we’ll increase our budget size in health,” the
governor said, adding that despite the budget deduction of about 22
percent during this year, that of health was increased instead.

“We’ll continue to ensure that we raise the bar on our health
agenda. I’m sure in terms of numbers, you saw how many tests we did
for Covid in Lagos. Because we know it’s public health, we’ve done
over 120,000 to 125,000 free. So, you can compare to when we
brought our private laboratory practitioners.

“It goes to show you that envelope, the size of financial
commitment that the state had to make, to make sure that a public
health challenge like COVID-19 was not just something that we were
glossing over. We faced it right from the beginning.

“Today, it’s about the Speaker, who deemed it fit to say that
‘this is time to look back and give back to a sector that I truly
believe in.’ So, Mr. Speaker and the Chairman House Committee on
Health, we want to thank you for bringing this to Lagos.”

On his part, the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Hon. Tanko
Sununu, said Nigerians are appreciative of the proactive measures
taken by the Lagos State governor toward containing the coronavirus
since its outbreak in Nigeria, as well as his continuous
surveillance and interventions.

“This training, is very important being about ethics, which is a
systematic strategy of what a person’s conduct and actions should
be with regards to self, whether humans and the environment,
couldn’t have come at a better time than now, when Nigerians, most
especially medical and healthcare providers are passing through a
lot of stress.

“The training will serve the practitioners with the best conduct
expected of them while providing health service with empathy in
order to have an excellent outcome for patients”.

Also, the Minister of State for Healthcare, Dr. Olorunnimbe
Mamora, lauded the speaker for organising the training, which he
said would go a long way in achieving its objectives of improving
the capacity of the health workers.

“This training represents the quest and desire for improvement,
growth and development in the health sectorn. Any system that has
no interest in training programmes for the personnel or fails to
give training the importance it deserves has inevitably planned to
fail or fizzle out completely

“In order to keep pace with quality delivery of services, there
must be deliberate and committed efforts to ensure that continuous
training and capacity building remain at the center of the
institution’s mandate,” he said.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila has said that the House is committed to increasing the
allocation to the health sector with a view to improving the
well-being of Nigerians.

Speaking at a two-day training organised for health workers by
his office in Lagos, the Speaker said the programme was to improve
their capacity to be able to handle the COVID-19 situation
better.

Declaring the training open yesterday in Lagos, the speaker said
it was “part of efforts to ensure that health care professionals
have the skills they need to continue to do the incredible work
they have done so far.”

The Speaker, who paid glowing tributes to all health workers
across the country for the way they have handled the Covid-19
situation so far, said he believed they deserve more attention in
terms of training and capacity building.

“Through all of this, our medical professionals have shown
exemplary courage and commitment. Their efforts have renewed our
faith in the human spirit and shown us that we are, each one of us,
capable of extraordinary greatness, of courage beyond measure and
goodness beyond what we imagine in ordinary times,” he said.

He said: “This moment also requires that governments at all
levels continue to support the training, welfare and wellbeing of
the medical professionals who are at the forefront of this
existential battle. We owe them that much, and so much more.”

Gbajabiamila added that the House “has committed to increasing
the appropriations due to the health sector so that we can remedy
the weaknesses of infrastructure and capacity, access and quality
that bedevil our national health care system.

“It is also an example of what we can do when we work together,
across different levels of government and with the private sector
to deliver objectives that serve the best interests of all our
citizens.”

He expressed delight at the discovery of a vaccine that would
bring Covid-19 to an end, cautioning, however, that “Yet we must
recognise, and we must continue to act in the knowledge that we are
still far from the time when that vaccine will be perfect and
readily available to all the people of the world.”

“When the final account of this moment is given, we will not
forget to credit the health workers and medical professionals who
have helped us here in Nigeria, and others all over the world, to
manage and overcome the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“So, while we anticipate this medical breakthrough, we must
brace ourselves to deal with the reality of now. And the truth is
that we still have work to do to ensure that we survive this battle
against disease and death.

“That work begins with making sure that all our citizens
continue to observe the Covid-19 guidelines and keep looking out
for one another as we have done so far.”

Gbajabiamila thanked the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide
Sanwo-Olu, for personally attending the programme as well as other
partners and those that helped designed the programme.

Speaking, Sanwo-Olu, who acknowledged the fact that the Speaker
is doing both Lagos and Nigeria proud, said the training would
deepen the efforts of the Lagos State Government in ensuring that
health care is accessible and affordable to the people of the
state.

“For us in Lagos State, we’ll continue to see health delivery as
an important pillar in our team’s agenda. We have committed to see
that year on, we’ll increase our budget size in health,” the
governor said, adding that despite the budget deduction of about 22
percent during this year, that of health was increased instead.

“We’ll continue to ensure that we raise the bar on our health
agenda. I’m sure in terms of numbers, you saw how many tests we did
for Covid in Lagos. Because we know it’s public health, we’ve done
over 120,000 to 125,000 free. So, you can compare to when we
brought our private laboratory practitioners.

“It goes to show you that envelope, the size of financial
commitment that the state had to make, to make sure that a public
health challenge like COVID-19 was not just something that we were
glossing over. We faced it right from the beginning.

“Today, it’s about the Speaker, who deemed it fit to say that
‘this is time to look back and give back to a sector that I truly
believe in.’ So, Mr. Speaker and the Chairman House Committee on
Health, we want to thank you for bringing this to Lagos.”

On his part, the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Hon. Tanko
Sununu, said Nigerians are appreciative of the proactive measures
taken by the Lagos State governor toward containing the coronavirus
since its outbreak in Nigeria, as well as his continuous
surveillance and interventions.

“This training, is very important being about ethics, which is a
systematic strategy of what a person’s conduct and actions should
be with regards to self, whether humans and the environment,
couldn’t have come at a better time than now, when Nigerians, most
especially medical and healthcare providers are passing through a
lot of stress.

“The training will serve the practitioners with the best conduct
expected of them while providing health service with empathy in
order to have an excellent outcome for patients”.

Also, the Minister of State for Healthcare, Dr. Olorunnimbe
Mamora, lauded the speaker for organising the training, which he
said would go a long way in achieving its objectives of improving
the capacity of the health workers.

“This training represents the quest and desire for improvement,
growth and development in the health sectorn. Any system that has
no interest in training programmes for the personnel or fails to
give training the importance it deserves has inevitably planned to
fail or fizzle out completely

“In order to keep pace with quality delivery of services, there
must be deliberate and committed efforts to ensure that continuous
training and capacity building remain at the center of the
institution’s mandate,” he said.