The African Union has appointed President Bola Tinubu as the Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership.
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, titled, ‘President Tinubu appointed as AU Champion for health.’
He said the Commission of the African Union (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention- Africa CDC) conveyed the announcement in a letter to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying the President was appointed on the recommendation of the Committee of Heads of State and Government of Africa CDC, under the leadership of Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union.
According to him, the appointment followed the “recognition of President Tinubu’s commitment to train 120,000 frontline health workers nationwide within 16 months and to double the number of primary health facilities in communities across all local government areas of the federation from 8,800 to over 17,000 over the next three years”.
“In his new role, the Commission subsequently invited President Tinubu to address the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme (MELP) under the theme, ‘Impactful leadership in health: a whole government approach’, billed for Saturday, February 17, 2024, at the Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government,” Ngelale said.
The statement noted that President Tinubu was recognised for his efforts in doubling the health personnel enrollment capacity from accredited nursing and midwifery institutions to accommodate the new demand created by new facilities across Nigeria, and his resolve to establish a paid volunteer youth force of social accountability officers to monitor the operational functioning and financial integrity of primary health centres.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has approved the immediate upgrade of 16 key health infrastructure and equipment across all six geo-political zones in the country.
This, according to a statement by the President’s media aide, Ajuri Ngelale, is in line with his administration’s vision of overhauling the health and social welfare sector for enhanced service delivery to all Nigerians.
“Upgrading health infrastructure and equipment is a top priority of President Tinubu’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
“To advance this landmark effort, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) will carry out the comprehensive upgradation of cancer-treatment infrastructure and other critical developments in six tertiary hospitals across several geopolitical zones, in addition to the full renovation and expansion of prior investments to improve broad-based access to high-quality healthcare in all six geo-political zones of the federation,” the statement read in part.
Six teaching hospitals across the six geo-political zones which have been marked for the establishment of oncology and nuclear medicine centres per facility include the University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital; University of Nigeria (Nsukka) Teaching Hospital; Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina; University of Jos Teaching Hospital and Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
Also, critical healthcare service expansion projects across the fields of radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterization will be carried out in ten hospitals across all geo-political zones.
Where these expansions would take place are North-West: Reference Hospital, Kaduna — (Radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology); South-East: Medical Diagnostic Centre Complex, Enugu — (Radiology, clinical pathology, medical & radiation oncology); North-West: Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto — (Diagnostic and intervention radiology, clinical pathology, and cardiac catheterization); South-West: University College Hospital, Ibadan — (Diagnostic and intervention radiology, clinical pathology, and cardiac catheterization) and South-South: University of Uyo Teaching Hospital — (Radiology and clinical pathology).
Others are North-East: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi — (Radiology and clinical pathology); South-South: Federal Medical Centre, Asaba — (Radiology and clinical pathology); North-Central: Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Complex, Ilorin — (Radiology and clinical pathology); North-Central: Jos University Teaching Hospital — (Radiology and clinical pathology) and North-East: Federal Medical Centre, Nguru — (Radiology and clinical pathology).
Ngelale noted that these critical projects, set to be delivered within 12-18 months, will improve screening and diagnostics for communicable and non-communicable diseases; reduce mortality rates and improve outcomes for non-communicable diseases; create considerable employment opportunities for clinical, administrative, and managerial personnel across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, all while building the capacity of clinical personnel in advanced procedures, diagnostics and treatment modalities.
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