Healthcare

By Peter Uwumarogie

The Federal Government says it is mobilising domestic resources to meet the basic health needs of Nigerians following the recent U.S. funding and other donor funding cuts.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Ali Pate stated this in an interview with journalists, on Thursday in Gombe.

Pate said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was committed to the health and wellbeing of Nigerians, hence it adopted proactive steps to bridge the gaps in healthcare service delivery.

He said that the federal government has committed more resources into the health sector in line with the agenda of the administration to prioritise the health of Nigerians.

The minister said the administration and all state governors were responsible for the health and wellbeing of the citizens.

While appreciating the U.S. government’s support in the last 20 years, Pate said the federal government was mobilising resources to maintain provision of healthcare services.

“We are mobilising domestic resources from our own budget and the federal government has announced additional resources for health.

“President Tinubu will ensure that we have the resources to maintain the treatment, drugs and other services so that we can over time exit from dependency on external assistance.

“We may not have as much resources as what other more advanced countries have but we have to learn to use what we have and use it well,” he said.

According to Pate, as Nigeria grows, there is the need to build its own national systems and institutions, and put domestic resources to improve healthcare service delivery.

He said the federal government was looking forward to strengthening partnership with the U.S. government and other partners across the world in spite of recent development.

This, he said, would ensure that Nigerians have to access good healthcare services they need.

He urged the state governments to emulate the federal government by prioritising the health sector, and committing the resources required to improve the health needs of citizens.

Pate assured that the government was doing all within its means to provide quality healthcare services to the people, stressing that, “it’s our responsibility to do that.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Pate is in Gombe to meet with Gov. Inuwa Yahaya, who doubles as the Chairman of Northern States Governors’ Forum.

The meeting was to strategise ways of exiting Nigeria from polio which manifested in the northern part of the country. (NAN)

Edited by Rabiu Sani-Ali