FG To Reposition Health Sector For Quality Services.

The Federal Government is to reposition the health sector to deliver quality healthcare services to Nigerians.

It has also concluded plans to digitize the nation’s healthcare system and will roll out a National Electronic Medical Record platform to ensure validated and reliable data that can be used to deliver healthcare to the populace.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Mohammed Ali Pate stated this while addressing journalists in Abuja.

He said the government is set to invest in physical infrastructure, equipment, and human resources to restore confidence in the nation’s healthcare system and discourage Nigerians from seeking medical treatment abroad for ailments that can be treated in the country.

He was quoted by The Guardian as saying “We need to ensure that our hospitals function better so that our people will have confidence in our health system. We need to address the problem of the health workforce that we are losing so that health workers who have left the country can start coming back and retain existing talent to limit the effects of emigration”.

The minister noted that as part of efforts to address the lingering strikes in the health sector, he, along with the Minister of State and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, met with four of the professional associations and they acknowledged that there was need to do away with sentiments and begin to rebuild trust and restore the integrity of the health profession.

Pate who noted that Nigeria has over 400,000 health workers of different categories, added that the doctor ratio to population is below World Health Organization’s requirements, hence, the need to train more health workers.

The Minister assured that the government would strengthen the nation’s health security so that when outbreaks happen, they can be dealt with immediately.

He stressed that state governments have a critical role to play in advancing the health sector.

THE GUARDIAN