Government To Sponsor 10,000 Surgeries

The Federal Government has revealed that it is set to carry out 10,000 subsidised surgeries on indigent Nigerians which will include cleft lip and palate repairs, myomectomy, hysterectomy and Vessico-Vagina Fistula (VVF) amongst others in 46 tertiary institutions.

Also, there will be treatment of 200,000 severely malnourished children categorised under weight loss, stunted growth as well as poor resistance to infection as the devastating health effect of the condition, especially on their physical and intellectual growth needs to be tackled.

The minister of health, Prof Isaac Adewole  stated that it is born out of the need to respond to the critical needs of the people and deliver on the mandate of promoting health with focus on access, affordability and demand.

He said the programme and goals which are ambitious and doable in the next 100 days of implementation encapsulates a set of initiatives borne out of the vision to produce quick and visible impacts that will affect the lives of every Nigerian especially the most vulnerable and poor in the society.

The minister said the intervention will be carried out in seven major areas that are thought to conform to both local and international health priorities.

They include revitalisation of Primary Healthcare Centres, mutual health assistance, treatment of 200,000 severely malnourished children, surgical intervention component, operationalising the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, screening of Nigerians for major diseases as well as accountability and transparency.

According to Adewole: “ We have set criteria to screen for eligible people that will benefit from the project. The NHIS platform would be used to carry out these surgeries using the social rates.

“Under this project, we will work to revamp 110 PHCs within the next 100 days; one in each senatorial district. In addition, Ward Development Committees (WDC) shall be activated with 110 communities where the PHCs are domiciled to ensure excellent governance, accountability and community mobilisation.

“Malnutrition among Nigeria’s children is a serious problem throughout the country. Each year, about one million Nigerian  children die before their 5th birthday. Malnutrition contributes to nearly half of these deaths. The rates of stunting in Nigeria have stagnated for more than a decade. About 2 in 5 Nigerian children are stunted with the rates varying throughout the country,” he noted.