The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, and the Minister of State, Dr. Tunji Alausa, have announced a four-point plan that aims to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for Nigerians.
The plan was revealed at a press conference on Saturday in Abuja, after a three-day ministerial meeting that discussed the challenges and opportunities in the health and social welfare sector.
The meeting was meant to develop a strategic vision for Nigeria’s healthcare system.
Pate said that there was a lot of room for improvement in the health services provided to Nigerians.
He said that the Federal Government, the state governments, and other agencies had a shared responsibility to deliver health to the people.
He said that the first point of the plan was to enhance the governance and leadership of health institutions in Nigeria and reduce political interference.
He said that the ministry would evaluate the performance of tertiary and teaching hospitals and boost the regulatory role of agencies like NAFDAC.
He also said that the ministry would collaborate with state governments to improve the regulation of the supply chain and ensure more inclusion and equity in health.
He said that health was a unifying factor for the country, as it was a common concern for all Nigerians.
The second point of the plan was to improve the health outcomes of the population, especially in areas such as infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and immunisation.
He said that this required the collective effort of all stakeholders, including families, communities, health workers, and political leaders.
He said that the ministry would make maternal deaths more visible and accountable.
The third point of the plan was to promote medical industrialisation, which was the value-chain of the sector.
He said that this aspect had been neglected, as Nigeria imported 70 percent of its pharmaceuticals from countries that were similar to Nigeria, and did not produce its own vaccines.
He said that the ministry would support the development of the local pharmaceutical industry and vaccine production.
The fourth point of the plan was to strengthen health security, which was the ability to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks, pandemics, and humanitarian crises.
He said that Nigeria had low health security, as evidenced by the frequent occurrence of diseases such as Lassa fever, diphtheria, and meningitis.
He said that the ministry would invest more in building the public health capacity to detect and contain outbreaks before they became uncontrollable, as it had done with Ebola and polio.
He said that this was a matter of national and global security, and that Nigeria would cooperate with its neighbours, the continent, and the world on health issues.
On social welfare, he said that the ministry would address the needs of people at different stages of their lives, from conception to adulthood.
