COVID-19 Exposed Inadequacies In Our Health System- Ishaku

The Taraba State Governor, Arc. Darius Ishaku, on Saturday, said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequacies in the Nigerian health system.

Ishaku stated this while declaring open, the 2020 Physician Week in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

Ishaku represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Innocent Vakkai, said the outbreak of the virus which threatens the world economy has further exposed the emptiness of the Nigerian health sector as samples were taken to far places for testing.

Ishaku who said his administration was committed to repositioning the health system in Taraba noted that he has so far established two COVID-19 testing centres in the State.

“We have also reconstructed three General hospitals in the state and revitalised the School of Nursing and Midwifery to boost manpower in the hospitals.

“The outbreak of COVID-19 has unraveled the inadequacies of our health system and there is need for an overhaul of the sector and that is why my administration has invested so much in the health sector.”

Earlier, Dr. Nkantah Edet, State Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association, said the aim of the Physician Week was to celebrate doctors and take a review of the health system in the past year.

He commended the State government for the reforms in the health sector and called for more actions for the recovery of the health sector after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nkantah also called for the review of the remuneration of doctors and employment of new ones to balance the doctor-patient ratio in the state.

He urged the doctors to learn from the presentations by the resource persons which he said were carefully selected to deal with challenging issues in the health system.

Our correspondent reports that the Physician Week with the theme, “Strategies for Recovery of the Health System during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria” featured paper presentations from experts in the health sector.