Martins Ifijeh
Former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, has called on the federal government to build more primary health centres and to provide more health facilities to enable average Nigerians have access to standard and accessible healthcare.
He made this call penultimate recently during the opening of Rabboni Hospitals Limited in Festac Town, Lagos.
Duke urged the federal government to localize standard medical facilities and services, describing it as the solution to accessible and affordable healthcare.
While addressing newsmen, Duke said that if every medical service and facility can be at most a kilometre away from its beneficiaries, there will be reduction in maternal mortality and death rate generally.
He said, “just like it’s the case with schools and fire services, Nigeria has to localise medicine, such that healthcare facilities and medical services will be within the communities. Until that happens we are not going to get it right in the Nigerian health sector.
“The hospital we are inaugurating today is a comprehensive medical facility but it is also a community healthcare service, which is close, accessible and will be affordable.
“For instance, a church sets a goal to have its branches on every street or five minutes drive from its worshipers, if a hospital is attached to such church branches it will go a long way in this country.”
When asked on the way forward for the health sector, he said that, it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that appropriate regulatory framework and infrastructures were in place. “There should be special tax rate for medical services providers. Government should not be charging hospitals high rates for water and other basic amenities,” Duke added.
