The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has expressed optimism that the present administration would achieve Universal Health Coverage.
The Minister made this known on Thursday while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 58th National Council on Health held in the ancient city of Sokoto.
Adewole said the government has made it one of its priorities to improve health outcome by striving to achieve Universal Health Coverage through the change agenda for health.
The agenda is geared toward improving the efficiency and responsiveness of health system to the needs of the citizenry.
It also focuses on making available the resources required for efficient service delivery.
The Minister said the approach will increase access to health care services, reduce exposure of Nigerians citizens to financial catastrophe and ensure citizens’ satisfaction with health service received.
He added that when the Universal Health Coverage is fully functional and attained, it would improve health indicators, efficiency of health system, sustained economic development, increase social harmony and political stability and reduction in poverty and inequality.
Speaking on the strategies to implement the agenda, Adele said: “To rapidly increase the functionality of at least one Primary Health Care facility per ward in Nigeria, scaling up to 10,000 functional PHC facilities within two years.
“To achieve this stride, we have proposed a phased approach over the next two years.
“In the first year 2016, we want to make functional 5,000 PHCs and scale up by activating another 5,000 PHCs in the next year, 2017, and this sums up to 10,000 PHCs within two years.”
In his remarks the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, urged the stakeholders in the health sector to dedicate themselves to the pursuit of the Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria.
Tambuwal said Sokoto State under his leadership has constructed functional Primary Health Centres in the 244 wards in the state, adding that ambulance for referral system has also been made available to the Primary Healthcare Centres in the state.
He also said the state had established State Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, called on politicians to always execute projects that have direct impacts on common men.
Abubakar said there is no justification for political leaders to spend billions of Naira on projects that would only benefit few people in the state.
He urged the Commissioners of Health from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to come up with strong policies that would reduce free sales and use of drugs on the streets.
He noted that abuse of drugs by the youths is alarming and something urgent should be done to address the menace.
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