Stakeholders Move To Address Lapses In Healthcare Delivery 

Florence Adewale

To enable Nigeria manufacture drugs and other healthcare equipment locally to boost the nation’s economy, stakeholders in the health sector have advocated for the transfer of technology.

They made the call in Abuja at a media engagement on lapses hindering improved healthcare services in the country.

Speaking at the event, the National Coordinator, Civil Society In Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition, Mr. Ayo Ipinmoye expressed worry over inadequate consumables at most healthcare centres.

Mr Ipinmoye who commended international partners for their support said necessary measures needed to be put in place to ensure local resources were mobilized to produce vaccines and drugs in Nigeria.

Ipinmoye explained further, “One of the things that we have been advocating for, is transfer of technology, and for us to be able to develop the capability to manufacture, imagine the amount of money that goes out of our economy just buying and importing drugs from abroad. How much better will it be for our economy if we are able to produce those drugs here and then, the money that we have is circulated within the economy”.

On his part, the Executive Secretary, Country Coordinating Mechanism for Global Fund, Mr. Ibrahim Olaitan lamented over the porous form of data in the health sector.

He called for urgent attention to enable the nation make rightful decisions to improve healthcare delivery.

According to Mr. Olaitan “So in no time we will get all these done, and it will be in the best interest of Nigerians to get electronic medical records operationalized across board. And the platform we have presently, we need to optimize, if we don’t optimize it we will not know if we have sufficient data, we need to update, Technology is leaving us behind”.

Other stakeholders at the forum called on Nigerians to ensure proper hygiene and take ownership of healthcare centres in their environment as prevention is better than cure.

Edited By Grace Namiji