By Badero Olusola
...Continued
“Health is capital intensive and a social contract between the government and the people. Efforts by private organizations is just complimentary to the government and should not be seen as another alternative. Healthcare cannot be left in the hands of the private sector for fear of exploitation. Where this exists, the government serves as a regulator with appropriate health care financing." Dr. Edward Jagun, NMA Chairman Ogun State
Like I said previously, free health care delivery goes beyond awarding contracts for building constructions, or mass eye surgeries in an open field. Free and qualitative health care delivery connotes good and well motivated medical staffs, to a well maintained vicinity of operation.
In Scotland, we have GPs and many of them are privates but practising in the government owned facilities to care for the people - most especially the poor.
Ogun State can start by modifying the Health centres across the state rather than building new ones - make expansions or extensions where necessary. Here in Scotland, the GPs are the consultants you talk to about your health concerns - he can prescribe drugs for you to take to the dispensary or refer you to a specialist in the main hospital. The GPs are those you will meet at the clinics in your area - something like what you will get at the local government health centers in Ogun State.
We have Primary, secondary and Tertiary health care levels in Nigeria. Primary for the local government, Secondary for the state government, and the tertiary for the federal government.
If Ogun State Government can mandate every local government to employ 1 consultant and 1 specialist in their health centres with a salary package of N2million monthly. that will leave us with 20 consultants and 20 specialists in our 20 local governments. The state government should at least employ 10 specialists in different medical fields that will work with their local government counterparts across the state. If this can be achieved, that will be a substantial number for a single state in Nigeria.
These Specialists can be sourced from our Private hospitals and place them on-call for some certain hours in a day. This will save the government spending to house them and other perks that may come with their full time contracts. Employ them on part time and pay them good money.
After this, proper auditing of the state's medical staffs should follow. This will give the government the true picture of what a staff shortages can really be in time of emergency. The government can then set a budget on staff salaries and other emoluments to make them deliver. Those who save lives deserves one too.
Medical drugs is free in the whole of Scotland, no matter your health conditions. After seeing your GP, you can then go to the chemist, which are mostly privately owned. Lloyds Pharmacy is one of the Scottish government's partners in dispensing medical drugs to the people here.
Ogun State government can also emulate this. We can partner big pharmacies in the state to have their shops located in our health care facilities. A state that pride herself of spending more than 20billion a year on health but can't boast of a single dispensary in any of her hospitals should be worried - even when people are willing to pay, they still can get the drugs. If we can allocate N1billion to the health sector for salaries, drugs and facilities maintenance every month, we won't need an advert to when the health care delivery improves in Ogun state. Honesty is all it requires. Scotland has 157,000 medical staffs under her payroll - Ogun State doesn't need that much for a start.
With N12billion a year, more than half of Ogun state residents, rich or poor, young or old, will have access to free and qualitative health care services. With the budget of over N200billion every year, Spending N12billion on health, and be honest with it, we can move our people out of the current helpless medical situation.
I just hope they are reading!
Maiyegun General
Glasgow
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