29th July, 2024
By Emmanuel Mogbede
Dr Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, has said what President Bola Tinubu has been doing since he assumed office is to fix the accumulation of collective failure of Nigerians
He added that anyone protesting is protesting against Nigeria, not President Tinubu as it would not be right to assume that things will change almost overnight.
Pate who added that protest against the Tinubu-led administration is “a protest against the Nigeria’s health sector” said this while enumerating the numerous strides of the present administration in systematically cleaning up decades of rot in the health sector.
The Minister spoke when he received a delegation of All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Forum led by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees (BOT), Dr Isa Yuguda on Sunday in Abuja.
Pate, according to a statement by Mr Dapo Okubanjo, the Head of Media, APC Professional Forum told his guests that President Bola Tinubu-led administration deserves more support than recrimination from Nigerians.
The Minister noted that since assuming office, President Tinubu has been very deliberate in his bid to address decades-long challenges in many sectors of the economy.
He listed some of the ongoing strides of the Tinubu administration to include massive rehabilitation and equipping of primary healthcare centres and tertiary health facilities across the country.
“For instance, in the health sector, there is an ongoing rehabilitation and re-equipping of all primary healthcare centres and teaching hospitals with the support of donor agencies,” Pate said.
According to Pate, plans are underway to revive 8,300 primary healthcare centres to make them fully functional, adding that the essence was to expand and upgrade them to 17,000 PHCs in the next three years.
The minister said the initiative is being pushed by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency in collaboration with state governments s.
“In terms of hospital equipment and infrastructure, federal hospitals have successfully executed 201 specific infrastructure projects in the last one year.
“Additionally, 179 specific pieces of important medical equipment were procured by the federal government and distributed across the six geopolitical zones.
“We are witnessing a substantial upgrade in healthcare infrastructure, a testament to the President’s leadership.
“Plans are also underway for the ground breaking ceremony for 10 healthcare infrastructure projects, including diagnostic and oncology centres across the six geopolitical zones,” Pate was quoted as saying in the statement.
This, he said, was part of a broader initiative involving Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), adding that government was also working on a major PPP initiative to expand infrastructure and equip six teaching hospitals.
“We have set up a committee on standards for tertiary healthcare, which has been absent for eight years.
“This committee is tasked with defining the standards for tertiary facilities in line with the National Health Act. The details of these standards are now accessible online.
“The President’s effective promotion of Nigeria as a business-friendly environment has already attracted several international investors and foreign direct investments in the sector.
“Notably is a Brazilian entity which has committed US$240 million to establish a generic manufacturing plant in Nigeria,” Pate added.
The statement also quoted Yuguda as saying that the ongoing transformation in the country’s health sector was a big credit to President Tinubu. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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