Governor Godwin Obaseki, says only 10 percent of the over 7,000 private health facilities operating in Edo, are registered with the state ministry of health.
Obaseki made the disclosure during a recent inauguration of a five-man monitoring committee of the Medical Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), at the Government House, in Benin, the state capital, where he stressed the need to step up regulation to ensure quality, efficient and effective healthcare delivery to the Edo people.
The governor, who informed that his government was undertaking a holistic reform of the health system, said the committee will play a vital role in rethinking the role of the government in healthcare provision.
“This committee will be pivotal in the implementation of some aspects of our health transformational agenda. The medical practice we inherited from the colonial masters was the one which combined both the functions of regulations and operations at that time.
“Government in the past had the responsibility of regulation and providing medical services at the same time, but that has changed over the years. Now the government is no longer the prime provider of medical services. There are more services provided in the medical space by private individuals than government.
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“As a state, we feel that the government should now emphasise and focus more on regulatory functions and less as an operator”, he said.
The governor added that “For us in Edo State, our responsibility as a government is to provide and ensure our citizens get the best healthcare services possible.
The government should now regulate those who provide that care and ensure our citizens get the best of care and care providers are compelled to perform and do what they need to do to provide quality and standard care that we desire in Edo State.”
“Current data show that we have over 7,000 private health facilities in Edo State which include hospitals, medical centers, nursing homes, laboratories, pharmacies, patent medicines stores, amongst others. Sadly, only about 730 are currently registered with the Edo State Ministry of Health which stands for about 10 percent.”
“As government, we cannot say we know the kind of care our citizens received in the state from health practitioners. We have already kick-started a series of activities that will enhance the regulatory capacity of the ministry of health.
“We would support residents in the state to provide us with feedback of their experience of healthcare services as malpractice and unethical conduct of health providers will be duly addressed while ethical centres will be rewarded.
“We would no longer accept the situation where people die in our hospitals and no proper investigation to know the cause of their deaths. We will not allow the operation of unregistered mortuaries in the state.”
