500 patients benefitted from free surgeries in one week

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed that over 500 surgeries have been performed on patients under his administration’s free surgical Intervention programme in the last week.

Abiodun disclosed this when he received the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals in Nigeria, who paid him a courtesy call in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Thursday.

The governor said the free surgery programme was designed to provide succour to the poor and vulnerable who could not afford medical bills at this difficult time.

He said his government has also done a lot to improve the healthcare sector in the Gateway State since 2019.

Abiodun said, “We have also implemented our Health Insurance Programme called Ilera Dero and the Ibidero for the women. As of now, because of the prevalent economic situation, we have decided that all our women and children, the poor and vulnerable should go to our Primary Healthcare Centres and secondary or tertiary hospitals in the state. We will register them under our Free Health Insurance Programme.

“Our pregnant women, when they go to the hospital, they get free pre and post-natal attention. After they put to bed, they also get N10,000.”

Abiodun disclosed that the state is creating a database that would track a family or community, and the kind of disease prevalent among them.

The government will also compile such records at the grassroots that would enable the government to predict predominant diseases in the family, community or area and take proper care to treat them.

Speaking on the situation of the 250-bed hospital located at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the governor noted that his administration is collaborating with a partner, as part of its medical architecture, to run and make it a centre of medical excellence, to engender medical tourism in the country.

Abiodun noted that medical institutions in the state are wearing new looks as his government has employed a large number of medical personnel and purchased new equipment to make them render quality service to the people.

The governor described the relationship between the state Ministry of Health and the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, as cordial.

“We do not see the difference between the FMC, Abeokuta, and our own Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), because when there is a problem, we rush the patient to the nearest available medical facility. This has, over the years, helped us in dealing with difficult situations,” he added.

He commended the committee for initiating the meeting, noting that it would help them review each other’s research, development, and new techniques and assist in dealing with different types of illnesses and diseases.

Speaking earlier, chairman of the committee and Chief Medical Director, University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Prof Emem Bassey, commended Governor Abiodun for investing in the health sector, emphasizing that the increased funding, recruitment of different categories of health workers and renovation of over 100 Primary Healthcare Centres across the state, was worthy of note.

He said the committee, made up of all heads of federal medical institutions, was in the state for its 106th regular meeting to peer review and learn from each other to have a positive impact on their different hospitals at the end of the meeting.