Yemisi Izuora
As part of activities in commemoration of his first year in office, the governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, commissioned the newly-renovated ALGON Comprehensive Health Centre, Eyin Grammar, Ibadan.
The governor maintained that the top goal of his administration is to make primary health care system functional and affordable, noting that the government will continue to invest in the primary healthcare system.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted him as also urging residents of the community to enrol in the Oyo State Health Insurance scheme as officers begin to go from house to house.
The governor said: “Already, we have developed a new funding structure for PHCs in our state. We followed the policy of paying counterpart funding wherever it is required. Oyo State paid a sum of N250 million as state counterpart fund for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRIN), a World Bank project. The project commenced in March 2020.
“We paid a sum of N100 million as state counterpart fund on the Basic Health Care Fund project. We also paid N19 million counterpart fund for the Integrated Medical Outreach Program by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). As I said in my One Year in Office Broadcast, we will start seeing the results of our new funding structure in the months to come.”
According to the statement, Governor Makinde stated that through the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency, the state had been able to register 58,000 more beneficiaries for health insurance, adding that the state will now mobilise the community into OYSHIA.
The governor said: “Before we came into office, we were determined to ensure a turnaround in our healthcare sector. In order to achieve this, we made health care one of the four pillars of our manifesto, the Roadmap to Accelerated Development in Oyo State 2019-2023. And since we took over the affairs of the state, we have made healthcare development one of our priorities through policies and actions.
“For example, here in Oyo State, we have 721 Primary Healthcare Centres, or PHCs for short, across the 351 political wards. Although this number is not enough, our top goal is to make what we have functional and affordable.
“So, in revitalizing the PHC service system, we are starting with the strengthening of a minimum of one PHC per ward. Therefore, we are focusing on renovating and equipping 351 PHCs in the state, for a start. We started with the PHC in Oranyan and used that as a standard for the subsequent renovations.”
Governor Makinde, who maintained that the state was kicking off a new phase of enrollment for the state’s health insurance scheme, said: “Through the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency, we have been able to register 58,000 more beneficiaries for health insurance in the past year. And today, we are kicking off a new phase of enrollment. We will be mobilising the community into Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme.
“As our Cost-Benefit Analysis has shown, the average out-of-pocket payment for healthcare is N50,000/annum per resident of Oyo State. With healthcare insurance, you pay N8,000, a reduction of 84%. So, I urge you enrol in this scheme as the officers go from house to house in mobilisation.”
The governor explained that the state had also leveraged its COVID-19 response by identifying some PHCs that could be used as isolation centres and embarked on the rehabilitation and repairs, citing the examples of the PHCs in Igbo Ora and Awe.
“Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a suspension of activities, we had approved and started a N54 million-naira medical mission aimed at bringing healthcare closer to the people,” the governor added.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the OYSHIA, Dr. Sola Akande said the ALGON CHC was the second renovated PHC by the state government through capitation from Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme, saying that was PHC Oranyan, while a third facility located at Aafin Oyo, Oyo is ready for commissioning.
He said the facility is complete with the basic feature of OYSHIA, accredited PHCs and done in line with Governor Makinde’s instruction that the standard of Oranyan PHC must be followed, adding that the facility has been equipped with medical equipment, furniture, solar power installation and a 40kva diesel generator, which had been abandoned for 10 years.
“Your Excellency, in collaboration with primary health care board, the workforce shall be overhauled, trained and equipped to deliver excellent services with a human face in a friendly atmosphere to the enrollee and member of the community,” Akande said.