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8,000 Nigerian doctors in
U.K, U.S, says Lambo
By Segun
Adeleye
Reporter,
Abeokuta
The
Ministry of Health has begun moves to enable the country to benefit from
the expertise and goodwill of 8,000 Nigerian doctors resident in the
United States and the United Kingdom.
Minister of
Health, Professor Eyitayo Lambo, said the move is part of the seven-point
reform agenda of government in the health sector.
He said
after a meeting with more than 5,000 doctors under the umbrella of the
Association of Nigerian Physicians in Los Angeles, they decided to assist
the country with medical equipment, adding that the 3,000 medical
personnel in the U.K. have signified their intention to provide similar
assistance.
Lambo, who
was on a facility tour of the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre,
Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State, praised the vision of Dr Subomi Balogun for
pioneering public/private sector participation in health care
delivery.
He admitted
that the national health system was weak, adding that necessary assistance
would be given corporate establishments and privileged individuals that
set up medical institutions, particularly in the area of import duty
waiver on equipment.
The
minister said there was the need to reduce the burden of diseases and
conditions of maternal mortality, malaria and tuberculosis.
�The
reforms we are embarking upon are a process. We are refurbishing tertiary
health institutions and improving health resources, especially the quality
of personnel and to improve consumers� awareness so that they know that
they can determine their health by what they do and refuse to do,� he
added.
Balogun
appealed to government to facilitate the employment of Nigerians at home
and in the Diaspora to manage the referral centre.
He said
government assistance is necessary to encourage international agencies and
countries to assist the centre with equipment and consultancy
services.
He said
non-governmental organisations in Israel and interest groups in the U.S.
and Britain have visited the project to assess areas of
collaboration.
�I am dedicating this to God
and to African children. It has been made possible through the advice of
professors Olikoye Ransome-Kuti and Adeoye Lambo. They were impressed by
my earlier contributions to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan
and the General Hospital in Ijebu-Ode before awakening me to this,� he
said.
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