…partners PMIS, BA-N, UNICEF, others to reduce newborn death by 80 percent
Akinlabi Afolabi, Ibadan
The Oyo State Ministry of Health, on Thursday, launched its scorecard for the year 2020 to inform the general public about its performance so far in the health care delivery system, since the inception of Governor Seyi Makinde led administration in the state.
While launching the health performance update 2020 at the Parliament Building, Oyo state House of Assembly, Ibadan, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Muftau Ayoola, said that the vision of the ministry is to improve the health status and socio-economic advancement of individuals and families in the state.
He explained that the booklet comprises of 11 Chapters that highlighted Governor Seyi Makinde’s health manifesto and assemblance of the activities of the Oyo State in the health sector since inception of the present administration.
He commended the governor for making health sector one of the four pillars of his administration, saying that the government has made health delivery affordable, accessible, effective and equitable to the people of the state.
In his remark, the Director Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Health, Oyo State, Dr. Abass Gbolahan, explained that the ministry is launching the fact sheets in the health care delivery to create avenue for data verification .
He said that the sheet has been made in booklet form in order to afford those who are not around the state to know the activities of the state government in health sector.
“In this programme, we are launching our fact sheets in the health care delivery system. Everywhere in the whole world, what is important is data. We should be able to have evidence in whatever we are doing. In the sheet, we were able to assemble all the activities that Oyo State government has done in the health sector in 2020. We made it in booklet form in such a way that even those who are not around the state will always have a feel of what we are doing when they go through it.”
Gbolahan added that Governor Makinde, within 100 days in office, commissioned a Radio Diagnostic Unit at Ring Road state hospital and some other state-of-the-art facilities including CT scan, Mammogram, x-ray machines, a modern theatre, laboratories, and other infrastructure in some hospitals in the state.
He equally hinted that the government has been renovating one health facility per ward in all 33 local government areas of Oyo State, adding that state government has just recruited more than 500 health workers into our secondary health care facilities.
He maintained that all of the achievements of the present administration in health sector have been put together in a compendium as well as electronic format where any individual could lay a hand on it and know what exactly we are doing in Oyo State.
Similarly, the representative of the UNICEF, Dr Ijeoma Ago, said that the UNICEF has been partnering with Oyo State to reduce newborn deaths in Oyo State by 80 per cent within the next two to three years, saying that no mother should give birth to child and lose the child
According to her, “UNICEF generates a lot of data from their facilities but we find out that it is not being used in planning and monitoring the programmes we are implementing within the state
“Also, with the dwindling resources in the health sector, this is such an avenue to start using our resources more efficiently, especially directing them at the gaps we have identified through data.
She pointed out that UNICEF will continue to support Oyo state in the implementation of Reproductive Maternal Newborn and child health services scorecard within the state.
“We are hoping that with this, we will improve the way we use our resources in planning and monitoring our services to ensure that we are meeting up with the target we have set for mothers and children in Oyo State.