From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has restated the commitment of his administration to the welfare of medical doctors to boost healthcare delivery in the State.
The Governor disclosed this on Monday when he received in audience the executive members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Ekiti State branch, who paid a working visit to his office in Ado-Ekiti.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, the Governor said good welfare package for medical practitioners would serve as a catalyst to strengthen the health sector in the State and ensure a healthy population.
According to a statement by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Deputy Governor, Odunayo Ogunmola, the delegation which was led by the State NMA Chairman, Dr Kayode Ariyibi, was also joined during the visit by the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani.
Fayemi promised to look into the demands of the Ekiti NMA saying the body’s requests are geared towards a stronger and more responsive health sector which his administration craves.
The Governor explained that his administration has been working hard since inception to woo development partners to assist the State’s health sector noting that the drive had yielded financial support and projects which have changed the face of the sector.
He revealed the Ekiti Kete Canada donated state-of-the-art medical equipment which was recently commissioned for use at the State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) while the corporate organisation also donated cash and equipment in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
Fayemi charged the NMA and the Commissioner for Health to sustain the fight against quackery and crackdown on illegal hospitals and health centres to save the lives of the people of the State.
The Governor promised to look into the doctors’ requests on pay package, tax relief, filling of vacant positions in government hospitals, befitting residential quarters for house officers, plots of land on government lands along the new Ado-Iyin Road, a new bus for the association, among others.
‘Your requests are for the betterment of our health sector. I want to assure you that we are going to look into them within the limits of our finances.
‘Our administration will always seek the support of development partners to assist our health sector because health is wealth.
‘This government will not joke with the welfare of medical doctors and other health professionals because we value the health of our people,’ he said.
Speaking earlier, the State NMA Chairman, Ariyibi, hailed the Governor for achievements recorded in the health sector which he noted, started during his first administration in the areas of doctors’ welfare and infrastructure.
Some of the achievements, according to him, include the Oba Adejugbe Hospital, approval of Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS), resuscitation of the College of Medicine and the approval of its courses by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and the take-off of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) operations in the State.
Ariyibi called for the establishment of Emergency Ambulance Services across the three senatorial districts to be funded by the National Assembly members from the State to attend to emergencies from the grassroots.
He also disclosed that the NMA National President, Prof Innocent Ujah, would soon pay a working visit to Ekiti seeking government support to make the tour a success.
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