The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako has charged health institutions to remain steadfast to President Bola Ahmed’s vision of ensuring qualitative healthcare for Nigerians.
Dr. Salako made the statement during his familiarization visits to agencies and parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
On his entourage were top management staff of the Ministry, which included the Director of Hospital Services Department, Dr. Salaudeen Jimoh mni.
At the Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical & Research Development (NIPRD) at Idu Industrial layout Abuja, the Minister, led by the Director-General, Dr. Obi Adigwe took an assessment tour of various departments of the institute.
A statement signed by Alaba Balogun,
Deputy Director, Information & Public Relations, revealed that during a round table interactive meeting with the management staff, Dr. Salako said that the institution is very pivotal to unlocking the health care value chain agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the country.
To this end, he admonished the Director-General of NIPRD, Dr. Obi Adigwe and his team to consider business venture partnerships that will develop some of its products, with a possibility of assessing USD1bn on the table from the AFREXIM Bank.
Dr. Salako further buttressed this innovative proposition by assuring support of the Ministry towards projecting many of NIPRDs products on the table of Physicians.
NIPRD, he stated, is considered by the ministry as a very important agency in its agenda of ensuring universal health coverage for Nigerians and, commitment to reversing the direction of medical tourism.
Meanwhile, at the Nigerian Institute for Cancer Research & Treatment (NICRAT), the Minister of State for Health & Social Welfare Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, urged the Director-General, Dr. Usman Malami Aliyu and his team to prioritise research around prevention, services around prevention and, advocacy around prevention as a key element of its agenda.
“We know that whether we prevent, people will still come under with the disease. So we must also be prepared to provide qualitative care for people with the disease. To catch them very early through screening services.
“This is a very important disease or diseases that we must, all of us, sit down to frontally address. Which means that our efforts, our strategy need to be optimally tailored towards prevention and control, towards increasing awareness, towards improving the health literacy of Nigerians. Because quite a number of these cancers are preventable”; Dr. Salako pointed out.
To achieve maximum advocacy and preventable strategy therefore, he strongly urged both the Cancer programme in the Ministry and NICRAT to synergize and collaborate for one World Cancer Day Celebration next month February.
On federal government’s initiative for cancer health fund, the minister explained that it was a fund set apart to assist and support people who need cancer care but cannot afford it.
“It is currently operating in some centres and, it’s targeted at specific cancers, not all cancers.
“So this is an initiative to ensure that care is made available to vulnerable Nigerians who cannot afford it.We are hoping that during this budget cycle, we can expand the Cancer fund and make it more robust.
“And then, if there are more resources available, we can bring on board more centres and, more cancer types”; the minister further stated.
