Senate Summons Health Minister Over Poor Services In Public Health Institutions

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has been summoned by the Senate to brief the chambers on the current state of facilities and healthcare services in Nigerian teaching hospitals.

Adewole’s summon followed the motion moved by Senator David Umaru (Niger East), titled ‘Alarming report on the poor quality of services in Nigerian Teaching Hospitals.’

According to Umaru, they have been media report that most teaching hospitals in the country have been overstretched, forcing patients to sleep on bare floors, plastic mats and unhygienic conditions.

“Several stakeholders in the health sector have recently raised the alarm on the declining quality of services in Nigeria’s teaching hospitals amidst cases of overcrowding and lack of adequate funding and personnel necessary for optimal performance.

“Most teaching hospitals in Nigeria have been overstretched, forcing patients to sleep on bare floor, plastic mats and other unhygienic conditions that put them at the risk of contracting other ailments.

“Patients with terminal illnesses such as cancer and kidney failure are now compelled to travel long distances to access chemotherapy and dialysis at very high cost due to the absence of the requisite medical equipment for such services within their vicinity.”

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, after hearing the motions that have been moved by several senators, resolved that Adewole needed to appear before the plenary to explain the poor services rendered by public health institutions.

“We need to address this issue where you have patients lying on the floor and waiting for hours to be attended to.

“And it all comes down, as we rightly said, to corruption. It means the funds are not being used for what they are allocated for, the funds will be used for something else.

“We also need to strengthen the Auditor-General’s office. Until we begin to oversee monies being sent to MDAs, we’ll continue to have these issues.

“How inadequate can funding be that there is no light, patients are lying on the floor and meanwhile, they are getting funding and allocation every year. And they are also getting revenue,” he said.