The Ogun State House of Assembly has urged the state’s governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun to construct more health centres and rehabilitate old ones.
PMParrot gathered that the House came up with this decision because of its concern on the need to ensure unhindered access to qualitative health care services by residents of the State.
Members of the State Assembly including Honourables Olusola Sonuga, Olawale Alausa, Olujimi Otukoya and Tunde Sanusi made this call while taking on the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye during the on-going 2018 budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the State at the Assembly Complex, Oke- Mosan, Abeokuta.
The lawmakers in their separate submissions harped on the need for the ministry to evolve more strategies to strengthen the health care delivery system to the citizenry, particularly the grassroot people, just as they sought for more effective supervision of Community Health Centres to enhance quality service delivery.
On their part, Honourables Adebiyi Adeleye and Olusola Sonuga sought for the adoption of public private partnership (PPP) approach towards giving room for the private sector and well – meaning individuals to support government in its resolve to improve on the health wellbeing of the people.
Responding, the Commissioner assured that efforts were being intensified to ensure a more responsive health programmes that would allow for increased access to qualitative health care facilities, saying the Ministry had finalized plans to distribute more modern equipment it received through the World Bank support to about 60 government owned hospitals across the State.
Ipaye added that an executive bill was underway to domesticate and improve on the National Health Insurance Scheme at the State level which would be targeted at establishing an alternative source of health care financing for increased participation by the citizenry.
The Commissioner remarked that the Ministry had continue to synergy with international agencies and foreign donors towards realizing its 2018 budget objectives with the aim of providing quality, accessible and affordable health care services to all and sundry.
Presenting the Ministry’s budgetary estimates, Ipaye proposed a total sum of N6.86B as its total budget for next year, out of which capital expenditure would gulp N5.46B, while the remaining N1.4B would cater for recurrent expenditure.
The Health Commissioner also presented the budget proposals of the State Hospital Management Board and that of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
Packaged by Hazeez Ayansola
