The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has called on Nigerians to demand more from their government when it comes to healthcare and basic services.
Pate, who made this statement on Wednesday in Abuja at the three-day Nigeria Health Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review, urged the masses to hold the Federal, State, and Local Governments accountable for improving the quality of healthcare, ensuring that everyone has access to quality services.
“For our citizens, in line with the President’s overall direction, we want you to hold us, as well as your state and local governments, accountable for providing improved quality healthcare services and basic services that we need as a people to create a healthier nation,” he said.
Pate explained that the ministry is launching the State of Health Report, which he said will provide a comprehensive analysis of the status of the nation’s healthcare system and outline the way forward for the nation’s healthcare sector.
Apart from the report, the minister added that the Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Report would also be launched to address the consequences of climate change on health.
“I would like to say that the lives of Nigerians, particularly women and children, are at stake, especially the poorest among us. We must do everything we can to safeguard them, and we will be relentless in our resolve to deliver an efficient, equitable, and quality healthcare system for all Nigerians,” he said.
Pate, who noted that President Bola Tinubu is committed to improving the quality of healthcare services for Nigeria, stated that the ministry has achieved 31 out of its 41 Key Performance Indicators across the presidential commitments and is on track to surpass the targets for 2024.
“We call on all of us to take action, because the task ahead is huge, but it requires our collective efforts, and we can do this through genuine partnerships that are respectful. We call on the government, including our development partners and the friends of Nigeria, to continue working with us and to be patient with us as we chart a path towards improving the health of all Nigerians.
“From the federal government, I assure you that the president is very committed to continuing the prioritisation of healthcare, in line with the principles and commitments of the sector-wide compact that we signed. I would also like to commend all of the state governors for their involvement, especially in the last 15 months, in working with us.
“To our development partners, I really want to appreciate you as well. We seek stronger convergence of your financing and technical support towards our priorities. We also ask our development partners to share with us, through the Sector-Wide Approach Coordination Office, their roadmap for strengthening the alignment as part of this compact,” he said.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Health, Iziaq Salako, stated that the JAR is a vital instrument for health sector stakeholders to assess programme performance, evaluate resource distribution, and review outcomes or issues that need to be addressed to improve performance.
“As a critical accountability tool, we will use the JAR to promote multisectoral coordination and set clear priorities for the upcoming year, ensuring that all stakeholders remain aligned with national health goals,” he said.
ENDS
Hold Govt Accountable For Quality Healthcare, Pate Tells Nigerians is first published on The Whistler Newspaper