Promise Eze
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for the legacy it is leaving behind in the area of quality healthcare delivery through the Universal Health Coverage.
Speaking at the inauguration of an 80-bed Mother and Child Hospital in his hometown of Oro, near Ilorin in Kwara state, Mohammed stated that the Buhari administration was executing the universal health suffrage by expanding the net for those to be captured under the Health Insurance Programme.
Facilitated by the Minister, the hospital was built by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The event was part of the activities lined up for the 2023 Oro Day celebrations, which also included the inauguration of another 40-bed hospital built in Igbaja town, facilitated by the Minister through the SDG Office.
“The Basic Health Care Provision Fund is being operationalised to provide healthcare to poor and indigent Nigerians. We will ensure availability of basic minimum package of health services,” Mohammed said.
He added that the government was partnering with the AFREXIM Bank to host the regional centre for health excellence in Abuja. According to him, the groundbreaking has been done, and the super hospital will be managed by the King’s College Hospital, London.
Mohammed also noted that the Buhari administration’s response to health emergencies has remained unprecedented, particularly in how it contained the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“Worthy of note is that under this administration, Nigeria has been certified Wild Polio Free,” he said.
The Minister’s remarks indicate the government’s commitment to providing quality healthcare to Nigerians, particularly the poor and indigent.
The establishment of more hospitals across the country and the expansion of the Health Insurance Programme will help to achieve this goal, ensuring that more Nigerians have access to affordable and quality healthcare.