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| Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire |
The Minister of State
for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said on Thursday in Abeokuta that the Federal
Government would build 10,000 functional primary healthcare centres across the
country.
He disclosed this during his familiarisation visit to the Federal
Medical Centre, Abeokuta, said constructing more healthcare centres would
reduce pressure on tertiary health institutions. He noted that the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to tackling medical
tourism.
According to him, the
country loses an estimated one billion dollars annually as a result of
Nigerians travelling abroad to get the desired medical services. The minister
said as part of the government's agenda, over 10,000 functional primary
healthcare centres would be established in various parts of the country. This,
according to him, will help to reduce the pressure on tertiary health
institutions, which will be repositioned to address health challenges often
treated in foreign countries. "We are losing estimated one billion dollars
on Nigerians going abroad to get treatment.
We have tertiary
hospitals that should be good enough to handle what most Nigerians go abroad
for. "What we should do is to ensure training and retraining of staff,
provide equipment and ensure proper modern service delivery; we must have
patient-centred healthcare service," he said. Ehanire pointed out that the
Federal Government was trying hard to generate resources from all areas to fund
the health sector amidst the competing needs and priorities of the nation.
Dr Dapo Sotiloye, the
Chief Medical Director of the hospital, said the hospital needed funds for some
of its vital capital projects, including completion of water schemes,
reticulation of electricity, among others. He said that within its short period
of existence, the hospital has impacted positively on the growth of medicine in
the country and has earned some local and international recognition. NAN
reports.
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