Federal Govt. to build 10,000 Primary Healthcare Centres - Minister

Dr. Osagie Ehinare, Minister of State for Health

Dr. Osage Ehanire, the Minister of State for Health, said on Thursday in Abeokuta that the Government intends to build 10,000 functional primary healthcare centres across the country.

Ehanire, who was on a visit to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, said this was aimed at reducing  the pressure on tertiary health institutions.

He noted that one of the key agenda of the current dispensation was to tackle medical tourism saying that the country loses an estimated one billion dollars annually as a result of Nigerians travelling abroad for treatment.

Dr. Ehanire sated that the tertiary health institutions would be re-positioned to address health challenges often treated in foreign countries.

“We are losing estimated one billion dollars on Nigerians going abroad to get treatment. We have tertiary hospitals that should be good enough to handle what most Nigerians go abroad for.

“What we should do is to ensure training and retraining of staff, provide equipment and ensure proper modern service delivery; we must have patient-centred healthcare service,” he said.

Dr Dapo Sotiloye, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, in his remarks said the hospital needed funds for some of its vital capital projects, including completion of water schemes, reticulation of electricity, among others.

He said the hospital have had a positive effect on the growth of medicine in the country and recognition both locally and internationally.