Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state has requested communities, philanthropists as well as corporate organisations to support government in the area of healthcare delivery, saying the current economic woes and dearth of adequate resources are preventing government to cater for everybody in terms of medical attention.
He lamented that poor infrastructure and facilities at various levels of hospitals and clinics are major challenges bedevilling sound health care delivery in the country and Kwara state, explaining that it was necessary for communities and corporate bodies to support government in that regard in order to save many lives of Nigerians.
Speaking through Abdwahab Oba, his Chief Press Secretary, when members of the Igbomina Mobile Health Clinic Project Implementation Committee paid a courtesy visit to Government House in Ilorin on Friday, the governor called on local communities to partner the state in strengthening healthcare delivery through affordable and qualitative primary healthcare services.
According to the governor, “Health Sector requires serious attention, especially in Nigeria as the country has not scaled minimum threshold that will allow for its development, but with the support and initiatives of communities, much could be achieved”.
Governor Ahmed, who commended the Igbomina people in diaspora for driving the mobile clinic project through the provision of drugs and other facilities, stressed that government alone in the country cannot provide healthcare to the people.
The governor however, urged other communities in the state to emulate the Igbomina’s health support initiative, adding that such intervention could also be in other sectors, including education, economic empowerment and social welfare.
Earlier, Emmanuel Adewuyi, Chairman, Igbomina Mobile Health Clinic Project, Emmanuel Adewuyi, said that the scheme was designed to cover 254 communities in Ifelodun, Irepodun and Isin local government areas of the state, explaining that the project which has 22 highly-competent medical personnel, has attended to 550 patients from three communities since it began operation in July this year.
According to the Chairman, there was prevalence of diseases like hypertension, diabetics, malarias and arthritis in the rural communities “out of 10 patients, our medical team reported that not less than seven of our rural people are prone to hypertension, which, sadly, was unknown to them”.
Adewuyi commended the state government for its financial and medical support to the project at take off.
SIKIRAT SHEHU
