The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, says the Federal Government will soon establish a special fund to enable accident victims receive free medical treatment.

Chukwu said this in Abuja on Monday at the inauguration of a three digit free-toll emergency call line 122 for the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).
The minister said that the fund would also take care of victims of other forms of violence.

According to him, two new trauma centres will be set up at the National Hospital in Abuja and the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.
Chukwu said that existing centres at teaching hospitals in Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Jos, Port Harcourt and Maiduguri would be strengthened to enable them to handle trauma arising from accidents and disasters.

He said that the measures were part of efforts by the Federal Government to ensure that accident victims and other forms of violence received prompt medical attention.
Chukwu said that the inauguration of the three digit emergency call line by the FRSC was significant as it would enable the commission to respond promptly to evacuate victims of accident to hospitals.

He said it would also guarantee their prompt medical attention and reduce the complications that might arise from accidents and disasters.

The minister said that the commission’s initiative was pragmatic and a positive development, adding that it was in line with the present administration’s transformation agenda.

``I, therefore, enjoin all Nigerians and road users not to only support this scheme but to store in their telephone handsets the emergency toll-free number and make use of same promptly in case of emergencies.
``The Ministry of Health associates with the FRSC and would continue to collaborate with the commission towards ensuring that road traffic crashes are eliminated or reduced to the minimum,’’ he said.

Mr Osita Chidoka, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, said that the establishment of the call centre by the commission was to assist accident victims.

According to him, the call centre is necessitated by the need to create a veritable window through which seamless information can flow to it whenever there are road accidents.

Chidoka said that since the inception of the call centre in 2008, the commission had received over 19,000 calls, adding that most of the calls bordered on road crashes, complaints, suggestions and inquiries on traffic issues.

He said that the centre had received calls on fire outbreak, armed robbery, bomb blasts, building collapse, plane crash and other non-road traffic crash emergencies.

Chidoka thanked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Ministers of Health, Information and Communication and Technology for facilitating the allocation of the line to the FRSC.

In his goodwill message, Mr Anyim Pius Anyim, the SGF, commended the FRSC for setting up the free-toll call line.

He said it would facilitate communication between the commission and road users during accidents

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/284-breaking-news/40844-fg-to-give-accident-victims-free-medical-treatment

Nice initiative . . . if its implemented.

ROFLMAO!!!! I don't know if I should applaud this cause it is sad . .. .

Funny, like they would really give free medical service.... Next topic pls.

Useless moronic policy!!

At a time when we should be encouraging health insurance schemes, the government is setting up funds for health.. The earlier this government realises that they are not father christmas, the better..

"The minister said that the fund would also take care of victims of other forms of violence."

So Boko Haram victims are included,

Nice initiative - if its implemented.

so na until accident hapun b4 we go fit get medicare.mad pple.fresh air agenda

Good initiative dou LONG OVERDUE!!! if a poor country lyk Sudan offers free medical services to all accident and emergency patients in all deir govt hosps...den i bet 9ja can do way beta...

To borrow from another poster on another topic:

Everything with the federal government is 'will' 'will' 'will'.

The only thing that 'is' is corruption, bad roads, insecurity, unemployment.

Enact the policy, plug the loopholes for fraud, and announce the implementation.

Be specific regarding those entitiled to the program. For instance is a guy who an okada knocks down on my street entitiled or is it for accidents on federal roads?

We are not interested in your thought processes. Think it through and announce upon implementation.

Or else, shut the phuck up. We are tired of promises.

is it until we have accident before the come to our aid?

Prevention is better than cure. Perhaps it would cost less to fix the potholes that are causing most of the accidents than rolling out funds from year to year to 'attend' to the victims. Fix the roads, enact and enforce laws than will promote safe driving and there will be no need throwing money into a rescue mission if the money will ever get there anyway.
We should run a proactive system that see what is likely to go wrong and prevent it in contrast to a reactive system where you wait for disasters to occur before deploying man, machine and money to run the fool's race.

Prevention is always better than cure.

Good work GEJ
Its an unprecedented initiative in the health sector
Way to go
We are solid behind you.

Okija_juju: Useless moronic policy!!

At a time when we should be encouraging health insurance schemes, the government is setting up funds for health.. The earlier this government realises that they are not father christmas, the better..

You don't really know what you saying. even in the Yankee people want free health service like the free health service they have in Canada.

Prevention is better than cure. Perhaps it would cost less to fix the potholes that are causing most of the accidents than rolling out funds from year to year to 'attend' to the victims. Fix the roads, enact and enforce laws than will promote safe driving and there will be no need throwing money into a rescue mission if the money will ever get there anyway.
We should run a proactive system that see what is likely to go wrong and prevent it in contrast to a reactive system where you wait for disasters to occur before deploying man, machine and money to run the fool's race.

Prevention is always better than cure.

what's d presidoo doing na He should sign the f**king national health bill into law, all these stuffs are all enshrined and covered by d bill. Which one be special funds again kwanu Anoda opportunity to milk d national honey pot dry. .....Meanwhile Prof Chukwu, we no dey feel ur swagger for federal hospitals in ur geopolitical zone! Equip d damn hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities! Those places are death holes and cesspools. Ur pple are suffering!

Every thing is "soon", "going to","look into","thinking about" they have not actually DONE anything

ifihearam: Good work GEJ
Its an unprecedented initiative in the health sector
Way to go
We are solid behind you.

Y behind y not in front mtweeew

ifihearam: Good work GEJ
Its an unprecedented initiative in the health sector
Way to go
We are solid behind you.

Are you not tired of hearing what this government 'will' do?

They 'will' improve power supply, they 'will' fix roads, they 'will' fight corruption...

He has been president for two years now...what have they done?

Its a good initiative...implement and announce. STOP TELLING US WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO.

nakedall:

You don't really know what you saying. even in the Yankee people want free health service like the free health service they have in Canada.

Unfortunely we are not Canada.. That's a producing economy..

In Nigeria we have so many things pen denuding that are highly capital intensive.. We can't keep giving out everything for free.. The cures that medicines provide are a result of years of research... Research cost money... The monies were provided by both government, insurance payouts and phamacitical companies.. The beauty of insurance is a pool of cash that is invested to yield more money while taking care of the health needs of a few sick people... Do you think that the government can afford to cover the medical bills of the whole country? I think not..

You called Canada, u am a beneficiary of the canadian health scheme and just so you know, it's a product of a comprehensive nation/province wide insurance scheme that's drawn off of tax payers monies and other taxes...

Nigeria is neither a producing economy, neither do we have an efficient tax system in place..

If we want infrastructures, energy and other amenities, the government needs to transfer some responsibilities to insurance companies.. One of which is health..

I hope I know what I am saying now..

._._. list of unfufilled promises continues to grow

Good move by the FG. I only hope it'll be implemented and sustained.
http://diary-of-a-network-marketer..com/

nakedall:

You don't really know what you saying. even in the Yankee people want free health service like the free health service they have in Canada.

Definitely not what they have in Canada. Micheal Moore does not speak for all Americans, and certainly not the many who called for the HealthCare bill passed by Obama to be re-done/scrapped/

dis FG "will" "will" seems is true talk una talk o o, I go begin to dey check dem.

@Post

I will believe it when I see it actually being implemented successfully. Our leaders makes a whole bunch of promises all the time but how many of the promises do they actually keep?

Thanks a lot

dasparrow: @Post

I will believe it when I see it actually being implemented successfully. Our leaders makes a whole bunch of promises all the time but how many of the promises do they actually keep?

I agree!

Why not make available good roads everywhere so that accident will be drastically reduced in Nigeria?

ziccoit: Why not make available good roads everywhere so that accident will be drastically reduced in Nigeria?

and risk being labelled a common sense government nahhh!!!!

lets see it ist...bt i wud be realy nice

Penning down a list of all the roads under construction and those completed repeatedly to you will mean waste of precious time. Even in America or U.K where I have spent some time,accidents happen even with their good roads and emergency response is always key to saving lives. This is a good step in the right direction and if they were not serious about implementing,the toll free number wouldn't have been set up and knowing Chidoka,the reforms he brought into the FRSC is quite commendable and I have not seen him as one hat will venture into an unworkable venture when in comes to lives and safety(most of you Thomas can attest to that) so,please if you have nothing to say,shut the phuck up!

This is a welcome development in the health sector. The free medical scheme can work if properly handled and the funds prudently managed.