FG distributes medical equipment to 251 secondary health facilities

The Federal Government on Friday flagged off the distribution of comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care equipment to 251 secondary healthcare centres across 30 states of the federation in an effort to boost maternal and newborn healthcare in the country. Speaking at the flag off in Abuja, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, […]

The Federal Government on Friday flagged off the distribution of comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care equipment to 251 secondary healthcare centres across 30 states of the federation in an effort to boost maternal and newborn healthcare in the country.

Speaking at the flag off in Abuja, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate, said the intervention is being implemented under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) and the Nigeria Healthcare Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp).

Among the equipment distributed include large scale pharmaceutical refrigerators, oxygen, blood banks, incubators and other lifesaving medical apparatuses.

Prof. Pate who was represented by Dr Muyi Aina, Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said the equipment distribution demonstrates what can be achieved when resources are pooled and priorities are aligned towards improving healthcare delivery across the country.

He noted that each benefiting state would receive medical equipment valued at about $200,000 for deployment to selected secondary healthcare facilities.

According to him, the initiative is part of efforts by the Federal Government to strengthen maternal and newborn healthcare services and reduce preventable deaths.

The minister, however, stressed that providing infrastructure and medical equipment alone would not guarantee better health outcomes without adequate staffing and effective management of the facilities.

He said secondary healthcare facilities remained the most affected by manpower shortages, calling on states to invest more in recruiting and retaining skilled health workers.

“We need to ensure that these facilities are not just equipped but fully functional. There must be adequate staffing and quality service delivery,” he said.

Pate added that the Federal Government was already working with states, tertiary hospitals and relevant stakeholders to improve healthcare service delivery through stronger collaboration and technical support.

Pate urged state governments and local authorities to ensure that the equipment are properly deployed and not left unused in stores.

Earlier, the Coordinator of the Sector Wide Approach (SWAp), Dr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, said the initiative had enabled the federal and state governments to align in terms of having the same core health indicators and commitments towards improving of maternal and newborn healthcare services.

He said the medical equipment would support labour rooms, pharmacies, laboratories, operating theatres and neonatal units to improve maternal and newborn emergency response capabilities across health facilities nationwide.

Representative of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr Abdulwahab Ahmed, in his remarks assured that the state governments would ensure the equipment are deployed to secondary healthcare centres and well maintained to meet the healthcare needs of the people.

The Commissioner for Health and Human Services in Ekiti State, Dr Oyebanji Filani, who spoke on behalf of Forum of State Commissioner for Health, said the SWAp framework was improving healthcare delivery through incentives and collaboration between federal and state governments.