The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has restated his government’s commitment to strengthening the state’s primary healthcare system to improve access to efficient and quality healthcare services for Edo people.
He reassured that the inauguration of the governing board for the state’s primary healthcare development agency will further bolster the government’s efforts at realizing its vision for the health sector.
The governor recently inaugurated the board headed by Dr. Felix Ogedegbe, at the Government House, Benin City.
Obaseki said the board will “rapidly expand primary healthcare using the resources available, collaborate with EdoHIS; encourage collaboration with other sectors at all levels in the development and support of primary healthcare systems to avoid waste of resources and duplication of efforts.”
The board, according to him, will also “supervise and oversee the running of primary healthcare facilities in the state; promote and monitor the implementation of our health plans at various levels of the primary healthcare system and ensure effective implementation and supervision of all primary healthcare activities as well as monitor the maintenance of the minimum acceptable standard in our primary healthcare.”
These, he said, are all geared towards repositioning the primary healthcare system to better serve Edo people, especially those in hard-to-reach communities across the state.
He added, “This is a significant development in the repositioning of our healthcare system. We have always emphasized that our healthcare superstructure rests on the primary healthcare system because that is the point at which the bulk of our citizens can engage with the health system.
The governor reaffirmed that his administration remains committed to establishing at least one primary healthcare center in every ward in the state to ensure every citizen has access to quality healthcare services.
He further noted, “We need to change the health-seeking behavior of our people and ensure that there is effective community involvement and participation in healthcare activities from inception to execution. Go into the communities and make the people know what we have been doing in the healthcare system.
“We are developing an effective programme for training and retraining of primary healthcare providers in the state. We also intend to strengthen referrals and linkages in other branches of the healthcare sector, especially in the areas of maternal and child health, reproductive healthcare and other ailments with the view of significantly reducing morbidity and mortality.”
