Oladapo Akinkugbe , an Emeritus Professor of Medicine has asserted that there is still a lot of gaps in approaching and handling the problems of healthcare in Nigeria. He made this known at the 2019 Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award, (NHEA) organised by the Global Health Projects and Resources, in partnership with the Anadach Group.
“Sometimes one will lament and have not any feedback, all the teaching hospitals in Nigeria still have a long way to go because in the case of medical tourism, brain drain . We still lagging behind, it is more important for people to realise that Nigeria’s healthcare most still be better,” Akinkugbe said.
He urged the federal, state and local government to declare state of emergency in health and education sector, “as far as healthcare is concern, one cannot say he is very proud with the quality of healthcare in this country.”
Akinkugbe who received a Lifetime Achievement Award along with Stella Okoli the Founder and Group Managing Director of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, and Eyitayo Lambo, Former Minister of Health, lamented that instead of the country to improve on some of the progress recorded in the past the reverse was the case.
“i urge the Federal and State Governments to invest more and support the involvement of private public partnership initiative in improving healthcare delivery. I believe our health institutions are gradually improving, but more investment from government can improve healthcare system,” said Wale Alabi, Project Director, NHEA.
Alabi added that over the years, the award had engendered more awareness on the quality and standard of services provided by various stakeholders in the industry. “This is our sixth year, and it has really been a successful award.
“We are aspiring to be the benchmark for excellent healthcare service delivery in Nigeria and Africa in general. NHEA is a unique forum that brings together key stakeholders and drivers of national and international trends, policies and solutions in the healthcare industry,” he said.
Also speaking Anthony Omolola, the Chairman, Advisory Board of NHEA, said the award would create healthy rivalry and competition that would help healthcare system to move forward.
“The presence of our lifetime achievement recipient awardees signifies that we are moving forward, because the selection was based on credibility and commitment to healthcare system. For other categories that won different awards, it is due to their hard work and efforts to be excellent in healthcare system,” he said.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
