Overhaul health sector for quality healthcare delivery, stakeholders tell Ondo govt
By Akintunde Jacobs, Akure
The Ondo State government has been called upon as a matter of urgency to overhaul the health sector for quality healthcare delivery in the state.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Akure at a one day roundtable meeting organized to share success stories of efforts made by Community Based Organisations (CBOs‘) implementing the global fund/NACA/RSSH/C19RM project in the state, Olajumoke Abereowo-Ogunyemi, the State Programme Officer, for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control, said the team has achieved more through the use of community based organisations to work closely with the health facilities by providing healthcare services at communities and local government of intervention.
According to her, the local government areas include: Owo, Akure South, Akure North, Ilaje, Ondo West as the project is being conducted in 18 states of the federation.
Abereowo-Ogunyemi said, “the project is being implemented across 18 states in Nigeria, in which Ondo State is one of the benefiting state and the project is centred on strengthening the infrastructure and also community based organisations in the state. And also to provide solutions to identified gap that is coming out from the primary healthcare facilities in Ondo state communities.
“In Ondo state, we have five major local governments where the project is being implemented which include; Owo, Akure South, Akure North, Ilaje and Ondo West and the project engages 15 based organizations, working to ensure that there is a success in the state with the representatives of these three networks: Network of People living with HIV/AIDS, Civil Society for Malaria Control, Immunization and Nutrition (ACOMIN) and Civil Society for the Eradication of Tuberculosis in personnel
“We believe that government cannot do it alone, hence the need for communities to take the ownership and the responsibility to address certain issues that emanated from the facilities where they were given health services.
“This is a call to our government because we believe that they can still do better, they should provide medical personnel, health volunteers like Ad-hoc staff that can be paid stipends and yet they will be improved in their knowledge and skills which will also strengthen the health facilities.
“We also call on the Ondo State residents not to back out on any government or individual infrastructure projects, instead they should come together to ensure that they protect any project that comes into their various communities.”
Also speaking at the roundtable meeting, two of the CBOs, Junaid Adeyemi-Gold and Austin Ogunleye said government needed to employ more health workers in order to replace those that have traveled outside the country.
They said some of the facilities visited lacked staff, drugs, good equipment, electricity and security while some facilities have been abandoned and taken over by hoodlums.
While the state Commissioner for Health, Banji Ajaka, appreciated the groups for complementing government’s efforts at reducing the rate of diseases in the state and noted that government was doing all in its power to see that all health facilities regain their lost glory.
“We have some organizations in the state, complementing the efforts of the state government in order to improve our health sector because government cannot do it alone. They voluntarily released themselves to visit these grassroots facilities in order to carry out their exercise for the prevention and control of diseases and others in the state,” he said.
Ajaka, who was represented by the Health Promoter/Educator, Ministry of Health, Rosemary Falokun, however, appealed to residents to always patronise government approved hospitals for quality healthcare service.
