The Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole has commended Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State for his investments in healthcare delivery services and health interventions in the state.
Adewole who gave the commendation on Thursday in Lokoja during the flag off of the administration’s ‘Healthcare Plus’ programme, said investing in people’s health was one of the best legacies any government can bequeath its people.
"I want to thank you for touching the lives of Kogi people and moving the state in the right direction. You are rehabilitating the health care infrastructure, investing in human resources and joining in medical outreach programmes.
"At the Federal Government level, we have done about 8, 000 free surgeries last year alone and so you have made our job easier because health is in the concurrent list.
"When governors and government invest in health, it makes our job at the federal level easier", the minister said.
The Minister while describing Nigeria as one of the countries with the worst case of maternal mortality rates due to inadequate health facilities, expressed the optimism that the launch of the healthcare plus in the state would go a long way in addressing the trend.
Earlier, Governor Yahaya Bello, who described the launch of the Health Care Plus initiative as one of his greatest achievements, said his government remained committed to providing quality healthcare to the people.
He said that the Health Care Plus initiative would includes free distribution of delivery kits, post partum haemorrhage packs, hypertensive packs, epistomy packs and free maternal/new born health care services, amongst others to pregnant women from poor socio-economic background.
Bello warned that any health official that diverts those healthcare materials or charge for those services would be dealt with, adding that a team would be constituted to monitor the exercise.