The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has commended Nigerian health workers for their resilience in the face of challenges, including kidnappings and other forms of insecurity across the country.
Elaborating on the ministry’s recently announced four-point agenda during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily Monday, Pate identified improvements that needed to be made in the health sector.
The minister stressed the need to appreciate people within the health sector who work hard, highlighting what they have been able to do with “limited financing” in the midst of several challenges.
“Take insecurity for instance. There are many health workers who have been kidnapped in the course of doing their work in rural areas in different parts of the country, yet health workers have continued to work hard to deliver services,” he said.
“Now, are they perfect? No. Is there scope for significant improvement? Yes. And that’s why we have articulated these four buckets of things that we will do.”
Pate’s remarks come nearly two months after the July abduction of Dr. Ekanem Ephraim, a medical doctor with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) in Cross River State, from her residence.
Last November, two other doctors were similarly kidnapped in the Akampa Local Government Area of the Niger Delta state.
Alongside the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, Pate said he was committed to President Bola Tinubu’s vision to pursue the four-point agenda to improve the overall state of health in Nigeria.
He noted that one of the items borders on improving the governance of health sector
“It’s not just the Federal Government has the responsibility for the health of Nigerians, all state governors, all local government authorities have to play their part; invest, ensure the services are delivered and the quality of service is good,” he said.
“It should include everyone, not only the public sector but the private sector in the conversation, the civil actors to really speak and have a consensus in the country that we want to improve the health of Nigerians.”
Credit: Channels Television
