Edo to strengthen healthcare regulation

The Edo State Government says it is coming up with interventions to strengthen healthcare regulation and improve quality health services to the residents.

Obehi Akoria, the commissioner for health, who disclosed this during a strategic meeting with leaders in nursing in Benin City, said that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led state government was committed to achieving a strong and resilient healthcare system that will guarantee improved access to quality healthcare services across all levels of healthcare delivery in the state.

She further stated that the ministry of health is working with professional groups in the state to tackle regulatory failures and quackery in the healthcare system as these contribute significantly to avoidable diseases and deaths in and outside health facilities in the state.

Identifying the upgrade and subsequent opening of the world-class Edo College of Nursing Sciences as one of Obaseki-led administration’s major achievements, she informed participants at the stakeholders’ meeting that the government has continued to focus on service delivery, healthcare financing, and training institutions as major drivers of healthcare improvement in the state.

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“The ministry of health has resolved to better perform its role as a regulator, setting standards and ensuring compliance in all healthcare facilities in the state,” the commissioner added.

The medical expert emphasised the pivotal roles of nurses in healthcare and called on the nurse leaders to partner with the ministry of health to achieve compliance with standards and in tackling quackery in the nursing profession.

Akoria said the stakeholders’ engagement was the first in a series of similar strategic engagements that will be held with other healthcare professionals in Edo State to strengthen the health system and ensure quality healthcare delivery to residents.

On her part, the new acting director of nursing services in the state, Patricia Osazuwa, noted that regulation in nursing was a task to be taken seriously.

The Edo State branch of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) participated in the strategy meeting.