AMBODE REITERATES COMMITMENT TO HEALTH SECTOR REFORMS
In a determined effort to improve service delivery in the health sector so as to change public perception about State-owned health institutions, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has expressed the readiness of the present administration to effect some major reforms that would transform the health sector to meet a world-class standard.
Governor Ambode disclosed this today at the opening ceremony of the 10th Annual Nurses Conference held at Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja Lagos.
Ambode, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Oluranti Adebule noted that the megacity status of Lagos State has necessitated the need for an effective and efficient health service delivery in the public health institutions to meet the need of the teeming population.
The Governor stated that the much-expected health insurance scheme promised by his administration would commence this year and charged health personnel to arm themselves with relevant information and training that would prepare them for the responsibility of ensuring the successful implementation of the scheme.
“Our administration will not relent in initiating more reforms into the health sector just as we are achieving remarkable improvements in other sectors of our lives. We would ensure that our public health institutions are capable of providing healthcare and wellness management for the megacity of Lagos, comparable to global standard practice”, he stated.
While describing the theme of the conference: “The role of Nurses in the Creation of Wellness and Maintaining of Health At a Time Like This”, as very apt and instructive, Ambode noted that the conference would provide the opportunity to appraise the role of nurses in the welfare scheme for a developing society.
He charged them to use the advantage of the conference to bring about innovation and new development that would impact positively on their professional practice, urging them not to relent on regular continuous enlightenment programmes that would educate their members on relevant issues that are germane to societal development.
The Governor, while noting that his administration was not unaware of some of the challenges confronting health workers in the discharge of their duties, stated that this government has, in the last few years, worked hard to ensure that the effects of such challenges are nullified to the barest minimum because of the sensitive nature of their work.
Ambode disclosed that last year alone, government employed more than 400 nurses who were deployed to all public institutions across the State as a way of curbing the problem of inadequate manpower, adding that the State Executive Council has also approved the establishment of three new Maternal/ Child Health Care Centres to expand the scope and reach of public health service delivery in the State this year.
In her remarks, Ms. Olaide Animashaun, Director of Nursing Services, Lagos State, said the conference was to help nurses deliberate on issues affecting the quality of nursing care in the State.