GIFT ROBERTS
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has lamented the level of corruption in the state’s healthcare system.
In a statement on Sunday at a town hall meeting with medical doctors in Benin, the state capital, Obaseki described the corruption in the state’s healthcare as an act to intentionally collapse the system.
Noting that the meeting was convened to discuss the way forward for the state’s healthcare system, the governor said, “I have seen corruption like never before in the healthcare system. The level of corruption in the healthcare system in the state is alarming and unacceptable. We have drawn the line; it will no longer be business as usual. It’s left to you to either join us or take a bow honorably.”
The Governor questioned the mode of having just one doctor in Igarra, Akoko Edo Local Government Area, and two in Auchi, ”while there were more doctors in Benin, doing nothing”.
“Patients in these areas visit private hospitals because they have lost faith in our system. On no account should any doctor refuse posting. For the past 10 months now, I have had the opportunity to discuss the healthcare system in the state, it is so clear the system has collapsed.
“I have information to this effect. We have no choice, but to move forward and collectively, we must improve the system and make the people trust the system again.
“We have come to the end of the road of the old order, and now we must chart a new course for a better and improved healthcare system in Edo state,” Obaseki said.
Obaseki further said that his government efforts to move the state forward, led to the introduction of the Edo Health Insurance Scheme (EDOHIS).
“Every doctor must now account for what they do to justify their salaries, we must be up and doing as some of you earn twice more than me, who is the governor of the state
“You have to provide a good healthcare system for Edo people; we must improve our healthcare system. I will put my life on the line for Edo people, their health is important to me and worth dying for; they voted me into power.”
He decried a situation where records and data of monthly patients attended to was not readily available in the hospital.
“We, as the authority that is supposed to certify death and issue certificates, do not have records that can easily be accessed,” he said.
He gave the health workers one-week ultimatum to organize themselves and come up with lasting solutions to the problems of healthcare in the state.
The governor, thereafter, paid a visit to the Stella Obasanjo Hospital to ascertain the level of facilities on ground.