FG: Lack of funds stalls completion of 84 hospitals

The Ministerial Committee on the Establish-ment of six World Class Hospitals and Diagnostic Centres in the six geo-political zones disclosed this to State House journalists yesterday after meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. The committee was set up in 2012 to enhance the implementation of the objective of setting up six world standard health facilities in […]

The Ministerial Committee on the Establish-ment of six World Class Hospitals and Diagnostic Centres in the six geo-political zones disclosed this to State House journalists yesterday after meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.
The committee was set up in 2012 to enhance the implementation of the objective of setting up six world standard health facilities in each of the six geo-political zones.
The chairman of the committee, Tony Elu-melu, who spoke to journalists, said the committee believed that Nigerians deserved good medical facilities, attention and care.
Elumelu urged the National Assembly to pass the National Health Insurance Scheme Bill so as to attract more private investments to the sector.
He said: “We updated the President on the journey so far. We took statistics of hospital projects in the country that have not been completed, and we came up with 84 hospital projects across the country. We shared this with Mr. President. Our intent is to see how this committee, working with his government, can help to bring closure in terms of completion of these hospitals so that our people will stop traveling to India, South Africa and other places for medical attention and care.
“However, our committee believes everyone should urge the National Assembly to help pass the NHIS bill into law as that’ll unlock a lot of opportunities in the health sector. That’ll provide the much needed effective demand of funding that’ll help the sector to take off. If our Senate and the House of Representatives don’t pass the NHIS bill, we won’t achieve much.
“So, as our lawmakers go back to their constituencies to seek election mandate, we should ask them to please give us the National Health Bill and the NHIS Bill that’ll help us as a country make progress in this sphere. The private sector is ready to invest in this sector, but because private sector is not a social service, we want all the enabling environment and initiative that will make it work to be in place.
“We can sit down and set up modern facilities, but if there is no money to make this sector attractive, it’ll collapse over time. I like to observe and commend what the minister of agriculture has done, and that is what the health minister is also trying to do: to re-position the heath sector in Nigeria from being perceived as a social service to one that is a commercially viable sector to invest in just as what we have achieved in the agricultural transformation of this administration”.