The Healthcare Transformation Coalition says Nigeria will benefit from the health care blueprint implemented in Lagos State by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, while he was governor.
The HTC is a coalition of the various disciplines and cadres of healthcare professionals in the public and private sectors, drawn from across the 36 states and the FCT, as well as the diaspora.
The coalition made the assertion in Abuja on Friday at a symposium tagged ‘Repositioning the healthcare sector: Creating the pathway to an effective health system.’
While stressing that the nation’s health care needed reforms, the coalition argued that COVID-19 pandemic exposed Nigeria’s ill-preparedness to handle emergency situations.
It also decried the mass exodus of medical doctors abroad.
It said, “There must be a reform put in place to address Nigeria’s rapidly depleting human resources for health stock. 14,000 health workers left Nigeria for the United Kingdom between 2021 and 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the underbelly of the pandemic preparedness in the country.
“Yet, the country has shown resilience and innovation when it mattered most. The reforms implemented by Bola Tinubu in Lagos provide a template on how the country can make progress rapidly.
“The way the healthcare system in Borno State adapted to the pressures of displaced persons is a lesson in how resilient health system should evolve.”
A former Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr Jide Idris,who is the convener of the coalition, said there was a need for a proactive action to reposition the health sector.
“Over the years, everybody thinks that the government knows everything but the truth is that the government does not know anything, most people in government are under serious influences outside.
“As professionals, we need to drive this system because nobody will drive it for us,” he said.
Also, speaking,Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, who represented the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, said “I want to say very clearly that these two Nigerians have proven beyond reasonable doubt that healthcare will surely make remarkable improvement under their leadership.”
According to Sabi, attainment of UHC is one of Tinubu’s primary objectives.
