A University Don, Professor Adegboyega Adisa Fawole has charged the Federal Government to continue its trajectory on the health insurance scheme to cover more of the population.
He has also stressed the need for urgent government support to strengthen the country’s health systems.
Delivering the 231st inaugural lecture of the University of Ilorin on Thursday, themed “Reversing Nigerian Women’s Poor Health Indices: Challenges and Prospects” Professor Fawole said, “Specifically, we need to be provided a ‘Radiotherapy centre’ at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital for complete cancer care.”
Primary healthcare, the main source of referral to the secondary and tertiary centres, needs to be overhauled and well coordinated with set targets to meet its obligations in the community, he said.
Professor Fawole of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, stressed the need for a reward, discipline model, adding that the government needs to introduce more incentives for the people working and trading in all sectors of the economy within the country who have refused to travel out under the ‘Japa’ syndrome for greener pastures.
He challenged Nigerians to change their attitude towards everything labelled government and argued that “we need to take responsibility for our health and our environment.”
Professor Fawole asserted that girl-child education needs more support while Nigerian women should be encouraged to increase their use of obstetric services manned by professional healthcare workers.
He further asked the government to rekindle the outlined national programme on the fight against cervical cancer.
Professor Fawole observed that “with our present structure, we cannot produce breakthrough research and innovations but we can work harder and turn our immediate community round and make some measurable progress for the betterment of us all, put a stop to preventable illnesses and complications in maternal care and drive away the malignancies especially the cancer of the cervix.”