Stakeholders call for urgent passage of Nigeria’s health bill
Chairman of Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Tony Elumelu, has called on the legislative arm of government to quickly pass the Nigeria’s health bill into law.
Elumelu made this call Wednesday at the launch of a state-of-the-art dialysis centre in Ikeja, Lagos State.
“I use this opportunity to call on the legislative, they need to urgently help pass the National Health Bill in order to reduce the challenges we face in the country,” Elumelu said.
According to Elumelu, healthcare delivery starts with affordability, and for it to be affordable, we must deal with the issues of demand and supply.
“If they pass the health bill into law it would give affordable healthcare to the citizenry, promote tourism and increase the enormous potentials in the sector. The less than 5 percent of the population that signed up to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is poor.
“So, members of Senate, House of Representatives should help deliver healthcare by passing the National Health Bill,” Elumelu said.
The Avon Dialysis Centre, operated by a dedicated team of medical professionals, is designed to transform the patient experience by delivering cutting-edge renal care and an integrated approach to patient support.
The Dialysis Centre is a further example of Avon Medical’s commitment to providing the best therapeutic outcomes to patients and expands Avon’s portfolio of services, to now include renal care, palliative support and medical advisory.
Corroborating Elumelu at the launch, Tayo Lawal, medical director, Gbagada General Hospital, representing Olajide Idris, Lagos State commissioner of health, said the Avon Dialysis Centre was going to be one of the general hospital partners in progress to help in dialysis.
“About 8 to 10 percent of patient’s admission in our facility is at the stage of chronic kidney disease. Nigeria is underdeveloped, especially in the area of health, so in terms of investment the health sector is still untapped.
“However, I congratulate, Avon and the team with this initiative to boosts dialysis in the country,” Lawal said.
According to Awele Elumelu, founder/CEO, Avon Medical, the group is pleased to announce the launch of a state-of-the-art dialysis centre in the heart of Lagos. Our goal is to redefine health care in Nigeria, by providing sustainable health solutions that will eventually spread across Africa, she said.
“We know the challenges in Nigerians healthcare system and the incidence of non-communicable disease is on the rise. Data shows that Nigeria has the highest prevalence of diabetes in sub Saharan Africa and one of the implications is chronic kidney disease. So this is for us to understand why the need for dialysis centres in the county.
“Also according to the National Association of neurologist stated that in Nigeria alone we have about 25million people which about 15 per cent of the population living with chronic kidney disease. We want to do as much that we can to improve health,
“It is a long-term investment and vision because at the end of the day it will pay the country as a whole. We hope more people come into it, we know that step by steps we are improving the sector. so we call together key stakeholders in the public and private sector, as well as international partners and leading medical consultants in the Nigerian Health industry,” she said.