Lagos State Government says construction work on its proposed medical park will begin in March, next year.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, said the Medical Park would be sited at the old school of nursing complex on Awolowo road in Ikoyi.
Dr Idris explained that the Park was aimed at complimenting services and curbing medical tourism.
“Basically that medical park is to create an avenue where you have people providing specialized services. We have a lot of Nigerians in the diaspora who want to come.
The facilities will be made available for them at the park: diagnostic facilities, managerial facilities, information technology; so that they have everything they need there and they can serve as referral point from other primary healthcare centres, so we are going to add value to what we already have as a system just like it is happening abroad,” the Commissioner stressed.
According to VON, On the level of work at one of the state’s foremost maternity centre, the Ayinke House, Ikeja, Dr Idris explained that the contract for the hospital had been re-awarded, while the new contractor had pledged to deliver it in twelve months’ time.
He pointed out that about eighty percent of the health budget would be
expended on personnel salaries, noting that a technical team was examining ways of incorporating the services of the private sector through the Health Insurance service.
The Commissioner for Health said a target had been set for the delivery of specific projects in the next year.
Specific diseases
He also revealed that special attention would be on how to tackle communicable and non-communicable diseases, including tuberculosis, HIV, Cancer and Hypertension from January 2016.
The Commissioner added that this was informed by the seriousness of the ailments.
Dr Idris noted that government had also beefed up regulation and monitoring of its hospitals for more effective service delivery.
According to the Commissioner, officials of the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) have been visiting at least two public hospitals on a weekly basis.
“We are increasing our monitoring capabilities; apart from asking HEFAMAA to go round like they do for private hospitals, I have mandated the officials to visit at least two public hospitals every week. In addition, we have gone the extra mile to engage members of the community to act as our eyes and ears,” Dr Idris concluded.
Posted by Janice Johnson
