By Asmau Ahmad
The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, said the Federal Government was investing in seven of its tertiary health institutions to become centres of excellence for cancer care.
The minister stated this when he received the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti in Abuja.
Professor Adewole called for the support of WHO toward mobilising resources for the revitalisation of primary healthcare toward the attainment of Universal Healthcare Coverage in Nigeria.
He said that the support from WHO would entail monitoring and evaluation, including routine surveillance, technical support for the National Public Health Observatory and mobilising resources for Regional Centre for Disease Control.
He added that the support from WHO would help to utilise Nigeria’s manpower in any WHO-inspired assignment in Africa.
Adewole, who said health was one of the key promises of the current administration, added that this would ensure that Nigerians, especially the poorest, access basic and quality healthcare.
He said: ‘We want to achieve Universal Health Coverage by ensuring one functional PHC per ward in Nigeria. To achieve UHC, Nigeria will scale up the inputs required for efficient service delivery, as 10,000 PHC facilities will be revitalised over the next two years.”
Earlier, Ms. Moeti had pledged support for Nigeria’s efforts to revolutionalise Primary Health Care.
She also expressed optimism that Nigeria would become polio-free by July 24, 2017, adding that she was encouraged about the nation’s focus on Primary Health Care and Universal Health Coverage.
