By Osemudiamhen Gloria

Daily reports on global health show heart-breaking statistics of persons living with diverse ailments. The rate at which people fall ill is alarming and this, oftentimes, results in deaths or incapacitation. Managing these ailments is cost-intensive and thus, requires a lot of planning and definite action in executing a comprehensive health care plan.

Quality health care has been an effective and efficient way of containing and managing health-related issues. However, having access to quality health care is very difficult, especially in developing countries.

An assessment of the activities in Edo State health sector reveals a heartwarming trend with regard to the structures being laid by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government to make quality health care available and accessible to all residents.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “It is health that is the real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver”. The growth of a state is highly dependent on the residents who are directly or indirectly agents of growth.

If they are not healthy physically, emotionally and otherwise, it would have a negative effect on the economy of the state whose growth would be retarded. So, if there is going to be
advancement in a state’s economy, healthy body and mind will be the major drivers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Health is a state of complete mental, social and physical well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

For Governor Godwin Obaseki, the well-being of the State’s residents is top priority; he is committed to raising a healthy people and this informed some initiatives, policies and programs that have helped tremendously to contain some infectious diseases and infirmities.

With the unveiling of various health policies, reforms and programs, and the provision of standard health facilities, there is a laudable improvement on the health of residents in the State.

One of such reforms is the establishment of Edo Health Improvement Programme (EdoHIP), which is ensuring an effective and efficient health care delivery. As part of the innovative policies in the health sector, Edo Health Insurance Scheme (EdoHIS) was launched by Edo State Government on 31st October, 2019, an initiative under the EdoHIP.
Edo State Health Insurance Commission, a body that implements and regulates the activities of Edo-HIS, ensures that Edo people benefit maximally from the health packages at relatively low cost, but only people who are registered under the Commission enjoy these benefits. Consequently, these programs have helped to reduce the challenges associated with access to health services by low-income earners.

In furtherance of the reforms, the Governor Obaseki-led administration has ensured the training of health workers in the State in order to enable them render quality and affordable health services to residents.

The administration has revamped more than 20 Primary Health Care Centers in the State. In 2021, the wife of Edo State Governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, flagged off a sensitization campaign on free surgeries for those who suffered vesicovaginal fistula; an abnormal opening that forms between the bladder and the wall of the vagina.

Similarly, Mrs. Obaseki has liaised with the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) to offer free medical treatment for Edo people, and the services would include surgeries through the Primary Health care centers in the State.

In the same way, the State Government has partnered with some bodies like Eclat Health Care Limited, an Interswitch Group Company with a host of others both in the public and private sectors in a bid to ensure improved health services.

The State Government is determined to partner with other professional health bodies to continue to boost health care delivery in the State.

The Obaseki administration also established the Edo State Primary Health Care Development Agency (EDSPHCDA) which is saddled with the responsibility of strengthening the foundation of Edo State Primary Health Care system by encouraging increased access to effective, efficient and sustainable health care services to residents.
All these efforts are geared towards improving the health sector of the State as well as to achieve a healthy society where everyone is hale and hearty.

#EdoMEGA #MEGA

Nice one from Edo State Government.