ECOWAS Parliamentarians want access to affordable healthcare for citizens

Members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament have called for access to affordable healthcare for citizens of the region.

Co-Chairman of the ECOWAS Parliament’s joint committee on Health, Education, Science and Culture; Telecommunications and Information Technology; and Industry and Private Sector, Senator Onyeka Peter Nwebonyi, who is also the Deputy Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate made the call on Thursday in Conakry, Guinea.

The Senator representing Ebonyi North Senatorial District in the National Assembly who spoke after the joint committee of the ECOWAS Parliament visited some health facilities in Conakry on the sidelines of the Committee’s delocalised meeting in Conakry, Republic of Guinea, said leaders in other West African nations should take a cue from what Guinea did for it citizens by establishing a world-class hospital that is managed for the good of the people.

The members of the ECOWAS Parliament’s joint committee visited the oldest hospital in Conakry established in 1900, Ignace Deen Centre Hospitalier Universitaire and the Hopital Nationale Donka Guinea.

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The Hopital Nationale Donka Guinea is a newly renovated hospital with state-of-the-art equipment in the heart of Conakry.

The members of the ECOWAS Parliament delegation who were taken around the hospital expressed joy over what they saw, calling for other member states to emulate the country and put the health of their citizens first.

The President of Concession Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Donka, Alpha Diallo, said the hospital was built and equipped through collaboration with the private sector, and it is operated on concession with Canadian expatriates.

He said there are arrangements in the areas of capacity building for citizens of Guinea who are expected to take over after handing over fully to the Guinean authorities.

The Head of Administration of the hospital, Doctor Denis Bernard Richie, said this has put an end to medical tourism as he would be happy to be treated in the hospital due to the standard set.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the Ignace Deen Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dr Dady Balde said the hospitall was named after a Beninoise Doctor, Ignace Deen, for his service to the health of the people, and it has continued to carter for the needs of the people at a very affordable rate.

He, however, lamented that the medical facilities had not been given the required attention to meet the need of the modern day.

He said: “This hospital was built between 1902 and 1904. It is a teaching hospital and a research centre. It has 455 beds and has well over 300 staff. It has 22 services, 10 medical services, 15 surgery, laboratories, emergency, pharmacy, and hospital maintenance services. It carries 120, 000 consultations annually, 10,000 beds, 4,000 CS operations, and 1500 surgeries annually.”

“Despite all these achievements, this hospital is facing a number of difficulties, decaying infrastructure and equipment, and I like to state that since its construction, only one massive renovation was done 36 years in 1988.”

In his reply, the co-chairman of the ECOWAS Parliament Committee and head of the delegation Hon. Orlando Dias Pereira, thanked the hospital management for its medical excellence and promised to convey their request for renovation and support to the appropriate authorities.