Politics Swept Me Off As Minister — Grange

A former Minister of Health, Professor Adenike Grange, said politics in public service was responsible for the loss of her job as a minister.

Grange, who expressed gratitude to her colleagues in the medical profession for their support during her “rehabilitation period,” said she was unaware of the politics in the public service.

The former minister was appointed in 2007 by late President Umaru Yar’Adua but was relieved of the job in controversial circumstances, less than a year after.

“I want to thank you all, my colleagues for your support during my rehabilitation period. I was swept off my office of minster by politics, which I was unaware of,” she said.

Grange said in Asaba on Tuesday while contributing to issues at the ongoing Nigerian Medical Association‘s (NMA) 1st National Health Summit.

Reviewing “Nigeria’s Healthcare System”, she said the sector was developing but at a slow pace and noted that the strategy for revamping the healthcare delivery service in the country was for the Federal Government to engage state governments in the sector.

She called for the establishment of Council on Health in the states, saying that the body would help in formulating and executing policies on primary healthcare delivery in the states.

According to her, Federal Government’s programmes in this regard, appear to be distanced from the states and local governments.

The former minister deplored the dearth of medical doctors in Nigeria, which had a fast growing population.

She said that the country had a ratio of one doctor to 3,500 people as against World Health Organisation’s (WHO) standard of one doctor to 600 persons.

Grange explained that there were more than 10,000 Nigerian medical doctors in the United States, with about the same number also in the United Kingdom.

To encourage more doctors to remain in the country and promote effective health services delivery, she urged NMA to pursue a programme of regular training and retraining of its members.

She also charged the association to address the issue of absence of equity in accessing medical services in the country, saying it was inimical to the development of the nation.

Grange further urged the association’s leadership to probe into the utilisation of Federal Government’s essential drugs programme.

She remarked that the government had continued to make huge investment in that aspect of medical services provision but noted that not much seemed to have been achieved in that regard.