By Debo Omilani, Lagos
| Lagos State government has reiterated its commitment to strengthen all Primary Health Care Centres in order to take quality healthcare delivery to all nooks and crannies of the State. The secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello disclosed this on Monday while welcoming participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC 41) 2019 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos, to a 5-day local study tour at Alausa, Ikeja He said the theme for the 2019 Study tour from NIPSS is “Funding Universal Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria”, describing it as very apt and speaks to the need not only to provide qualitative healthcare accessible to the people but also seek means of funding it. The SSG added that the present administration is also working assiduously to ensure that the recently launched Lagos State Health Scheme, which is a compulsory provision of quality healthcare to all residents of the State, is accessible without difficulties and embraced by all. Bello expressed optimism that “The various briefings during this study tour would also provide a means for the administration to showcase its various achievements and strides in the health and several other sectors where it has positively impacted the residents”. Earlier in his remarks, the Acting Director of Study and leader of the team, Dr. Nasirudeen Usman (MNI) described Lagos as a pacesetter, saying the participants chose to visit the State first among the 12 slated in order to learn from its wealth of experience on funding qualitative healthcare delivery. He stressed that participants would also travel to some African countries to benchmark how their healthcare delivery system is funded, adding that at the end of the tour, Mr. President would meet with participants to get their reports and advise on how to tackle the critical issues raised for the benefit of Lagos State and the entire nation. The Acting Director explained that the National Institute was created in 1979 to conduct research both locally and internationally on various issues and that the visiting team is the 41st set of participants since it was created. Usman expressed the profound appreciation of the team to the State Government for its hospitality, assuring that in the course of the study, the participants would highlight any identified gaps and make recommendations beneficial to all parties. Earlier in his address, the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet /SSG Office, Mr. Adesina Odeyemi said the 2019 study tour is symbolic because it is coming at the twilight of the administration of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode as the Governor and provides a credible platform to showcase the multi-dimensional strides recorded by the administration in the last four years. He stressed that the impact has been very profound across all the sectors ranging from infrastructure renewal, revenue generation, public transportation, housing, education, health care delivery, security, entertainment and tourism amongst others. Odeyemi averred that, in a clear demonstration of her resolve, the present administration launched the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS) on December 18, 2019, stressing that the Scheme which is expected to capture all residents of the State has started with public servants before it cascades to other sectors. Papers were presented by the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Professor Adetokunboh Fabanwo and Chairman of the State Health Service Commission, Mr. Bayo Aderiye on Day One of the five-day study tour.ReplyForward |
