*Says LASG has consistently increased budgetary allocation, efficiency in healthcare
*Lagos emerges ‘best state in digital infrastructure’
Segun James
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has appealed to world leaders, global think-tank and public office holders to work towards building a sustainable healthcare system for all and facilitate access for the poor and under-served.
Speaking on, “Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria: Optimising Institutional Opportunities and Partnerships for Success,” at the weekend, at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, Sanwo-Olu charged global think-tank to optimise institutional opportunities and partnerships for the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“To achieve UHC, developing countries must first focus on offering their residents a basic minimum set of healthcare services, provided free at the point of care using subsidy, controlled premiums or at a pre-set tariff system, within government-regulated facilities either public or affiliated private,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu said Lagos State as the most populous city in Africa, a financial hub and Africa’s fifth largest economy on the continent, has strategically strengthened the health system in pursuit of the UHC.
He said Lagos State has been using policies to strengthen its health systems, pushing toward the achievement of UHC, which the state considers a journey and not a destination.
“In Lagos State, we believe that policy is the most effective tool that governments can deploy in the pursuit of stronger health systems and eventually approaching UHC.
“The right policies will lead to the development of robust health financing systems that will serve the needs of our huge and increasing population,” he said.
Speaking on some of the policies of his administration to strengthen the health system, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos State government has consistently increased its budgetary allocation and efficiency to healthcare over the years, noting that the desire of his government is to eventually match the Abuja Declaration of 15 percent.
He said his administration through its capital infrastructure blueprint agenda was upgrading and renovating its existing primary and secondary health facilities in the short term and it has commenced building new designed fit-for-purpose primary, secondary and specialist health facilities for the future.
“We recognise that the government cannot cover the funding gap in the health system without support from the private sector. In a bid to encourage public-private partnerships, we set up various institutions such as the Office of Public Private Partnerships (OPPPs) and IBILE Holdings a private company owned by Lagos State for the purpose of engaging with the private sector. These institutions are mandated to facilitate and fast-track PPP opportunities in Lagos State
“We understand the need for proper governance within the administrative structure of the health system and so we inaugurated boards for all the agencies within the Lagos State Ministry of Health. This has gone a long way to strengthen the capacity of the hierarchical sub-agencies, keeping them focused on their mandates.”
Meanwhile, Lagos State government has emerged as the best overall in ‘Digital Infrastructure for Development’ among states in Nigeria.
The state won seven awards at the 6th edition of the annual Tech Innovation Awards formerly called Nigeria Tech Innovation and Telecom Awards (NTITA).
The Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Hakeem Fahm, who received the award on behalf of the state government, said the conferment of the awards on Lagos was a reflection of its buoyant tech ecosystem and the push to provide a world-class environment for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
He added that the award confirmed the state’s commitment to leveraging ICT for service delivery to the citizens and developing the ICT ecosystem with world-class infrastructure.
Fahm reiterated the commitment of Sanwo-Olu’s administration to provide a statewide fiber-optics infrastructure to support the huge demand for data centres, businesses and public use, maintaining that Lagos is determined to champion the sector’s growth and sustainability by supporting tech companies, ICT start-ups, and other industry members.
Speaking further, the Commissioner expressed his pleasure in the recognition of Lagos State’s efforts, stressing that the State will continue to foster ICT growth, local partnerships, and collaborations to create opportunities for innovation and wealth by eradicating the digital divide and enhancing operational resilience.
