Stakeholders in the health sector in Ogun say Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration needs to do more regarding its policies and programmes in the sector after one year of re-election.

Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Ogun chapter, Kunle Ashimi, while commending the state government’s efforts in strengthening the healthcare system, said there was still room for more.

“I am concerned that the steps taken, particularly within the period under review, are grossly inadequate to address the myriad of challenges facing the sector,” he told journalists.

The Ogun NMA chairman lamented the gross manpower shortage in most of the health facilities, occasioned by a massive exodus of health workers for greener pastures on a daily basis.

Mr Ashimi urged the state government to fill the gaps as a matter of urgency by implementing the revised CONMESS salary structure in order to attract and retain doctors.

“Ogun needs to fill these gaps as a matter of urgency because of the stress on the available doctors and the consequences of doctors’ fatigue.

“The few doctors available, for example, have not been responding favourably to job advertisements by the state because the Ogun government is yet to implement the reviewed CONMESS salary structure.

“To reverse this trend, the Ogun government must urgently implement the revised CONMESS in order to attract and retain doctors.”

He added that the cost of medication had skyrocketed, as had the cost of consumables and the cost of investigations.

“The people also need to practice preventive medicine as well as embrace health insurance to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket healthcare spending,” Mr Ashimi stated.

The state’s commissioner for health, Tomi Coker, however, said that the government had continued to revitalise the health sector by renovating more primary health care (PHC) facilities across the state.

According to Ms Coker, the government had renovated no fewer than 100 primary health centres (PHCs) and was still committed to renovating the remaining ones before the end of the administration’s tenure.

“The PHCs remain the pillar of quality, affordable and accessible healthcare services, hence our focus on the renovation and upgrade of the facilities,” she said.

Ms Coker added that the present administration also recently launched the informal sector insurance scheme and was hoping to launch the one for the formal sector soon.

“This will cover the civil servants and the organised labour,” she said.

The commissioner disclosed that the state had been able to register no fewer than 150,000 persons under the informal sector insurance scheme and was hoping to increase the number with time.

She added that the government had continued to invest in quality database technology for the enhancement of improved healthcare delivery.

“Some of the secondary and tertiary health facilities in the state now run on electronic medical records.

“If you go to a place like Ijaiye State Hospital, the entire system is now electronic and we hope to scale up to other general hospitals.

“All the state hospitals have 100 per cent deployment of electronic health records and the Olabisi Onabanjo University teaching hospital too has 75 per cent deployment as we speak,” Ms Coker said.

The commissioner also disclosed that the state had recently collaborated with Global Funds, a private firm, to put up the largest pharmaceutical warehouse in Nigeria within the state.

She said the facility was scheduled to begin operations on July 1.

Ms Coker added that the state governor has been “magnanimous enough” to give 12 per cent of the state’s entire budget to the health sector out of the 15 per cent Abuja declaration.

On future plans, Ms Coker explained that the government would continue to improve its ambulance services.

“Having started with 80 tricycle ambulances during the first term, we intend to provide more and also include basic life support ambulances in this second term.

“This will translate to less waiting time for ambulances to arrive at the scene of an accident or emergency,” she said.

Some patients at the state hospital at Ijaiye in Abeokuta also attested to some of the achievements listed by the commissioner.

They, however, pointed out that more still needed to be done to achieve an efficient and error-proof database technology system.

Kafilat Omiyera, an outpatient, said that there were often errors in the database as they had to contend with the correct dates of appointments.

“Sometimes when I visit, they check my name on the system and the date of my last appointment may not relate to my next one.

“This sometimes generates confusion, which often results in delays in getting attended to by the doctor,” she said.

Another patient, Shola Madebo, commended the state government for the health insurance scheme but claimed that some health workers had continually hindered prompt access to medical treatment.

“This is because we are not paying much.”

Tuoyo Jeremiah, also a patient at the state hospital, lamented the shortage of medical workers, saying the few ones available were often under too much pressure.

He noted that such medical workers often show signs of fatigue after long hours of work.

“The situation often affects their ability to cope with work, thereby causing some of them to be ‘cranky’ and rude to patients, ” Mr Jeremiah said.

(NAN)