Okowa urges better condition of service for healthcare professionals

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has called for improved condition of service for healthcare professionals.

Okowa made the call when members of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria led by Prof. Abubakar Auwal visited him in Asaba.

He said that the call had become necessary to discourage their migration from the country in search of greener pastures.

He lamented the exodus of medical doctors and nurses from the country in search of greener pastures.

The governor said that healthcare providers should be provided with facilities to enable them discharge their professional duties as a way of halting brain drain in the country.

According to him, the federal and sub-national governments should do the needful by prioritizing healthcare delivery through deliberate policy framework that would enable the country to retain its healthcare professionals.

“So, I believe that when you continue to sit together, you will be able to proffer solutions to issues, share ideas as to what to do to help this country at this time when it appears that things are going wrong in every facet.

“I truly want to let you know that we have had a very strong relationship with the Federal Medical Center, Asaba. I know that they did carry a lot of loads,” he said.

He disclosed that the contributory health insurance scheme of his administration had no fewer than one million enrollees.

“This including pregnant women and children under five years of age, with the government paying premium for their healthcare services.

“With a lot of our people below the poverty line, the greatest service you can do to touch their lives, is to ensure that we provide a process through which they can stay healthy and also ensure that their children are educated.

“Unfortunately, our priorities do not seem to be taken in the right direction. I believe that there are so many policies that we undertake in this nation that is anti-poor.

“Most times, we tend to undertake policies that impact more positively on the middle class and the rich and erroneously, we believe that we are touching the lives of the poor.

“The National Health Act was signed into law in 2014, have we really implemented that Act by trying to do the things we ought to do? We need to implement the National Health Act in full,”

Okowa said other areas on necessity included education, security, job creation and human capital development.

He described as unfortunate, the eight months industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that had kept students at home.

He said that the four universities owned by the state had been in session because his administration understood the importance of education and provided adequately for the institutions and the personnel. He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to do the needful so that the union’s strike would be called off to enable students resume studies.

Earlier, Auwal said that they were in the state for their meeting and thanked the governor for prioritizing healthcare delivery for residents of the state and his giant strides in other sectors of the state’s economy.

He called on other sub-national governments in the country to emulate Okowa’s developmental policies and programmes.

Auwal observed that the collaboration between Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba and the Delta government had significantly helped in reducing the burden of healthcare delivery services.

He noted that the free medical care for pregnant women and children under five years of age in Delta was a model for other states to emulate, adding that the healthcare policy was a right step in them right direction.

While pledging the readiness of the Committee towards improved healthcare delivery in the country, Auwal called on government at all levels to assist in making healthcare services available and affordable for the masses.