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| President Buhari |
Blames poor performance of health system on chronic
under funding
Only 20% of 30,000 PHCs functional
Nigeria needs 140 radiotherapy machines to tackle cancer
By Sola Ogundipe & Chioma Obinna
THE Federal Government yesterday directed all public
hospitals across the country to save patients’ lives first
during emergencies before demanding money even as it
blamed poor performance of the country’s health system on
chronic under funding.
Giving the directive during his first official visit to the Lagos
University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, the Minister of Health,
Prof. Isaac Adewole lamented that out of 30,000 Primary
HealthCare Centres, PHCs, across the country only 20
percent (6,000) are functional.
Adewole, who said government hospitals cannot continue to
turn poor patients away, however affirmed that lives of
Nigerians mean more than money.
“Accidents, among other emergency cases can occur at
anytime, so patients should not be refrained from accessing
treatment. The poverty indicator shows that 60 to 70
percent of Nigerians are poor. This means about 100 million
people are poor in Nigeria. So, we will provide basic care
through the PHC system for Nigerians.”
Adewole who directed the Management of LUTH not to allow
patients stay beyond 24 hours at the Accident and
Emergency ward to enable room for other new patients on
emergency, decried the situation he met on ground.
“What I saw this morning is congestion. When the A & E
unit is congested, that facility cannot absorb new cases.
When emergency happens, facilities must be able to
respond adequately and promptly.
“This reminded me of a situation whereby if you have an
accident, LUTH will not be able to respond, and that was
why I gave the directive that they should operate a system
that would evacuate patients within 24 hours.
Noting that the A & E is the face of any hospital, he said
once patients are treated, they should be moved to the ward
or be discharge if they are stable, in order to create space
for new cases.
On indigent patients, the minister urged the LUTH
management to ensure that the poor receive treatment by
absolving the cost of their treatment and called for
operations of a social system to enable it know those that
are genuinely poor.
Revealing that plans are underway to rebuild 10,000 PHCs
within the next three years, he noted: “We have the strong
determination to implement the under one roof PHCs which
has been part of the health project since 2010. By mid
2017 we will ensure that not less than 110 PHCs are
functional.”
On radiotherapy machines, the minister for Health said
Nigeria needs at least 140 radiotherapy machines to face
the challenges of cancer in the country.
Adewole who urged Nigerians to improve on their lifestyle
said 40per cent of cancer cases can be prevented while 40
per cent are also curable if detected early, lamented over-
stretching of the few machines for the treatments of two
million cancer patients.
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