The Chairman of the Lagos Medical Guild Dr Babajide Saheed has called on the Federal Government to prioritize the delivery of quality health services to the citizenry.
Saheed who made the call during a media briefing in Lagos decried the underfunding of the sector by the government.
He said that 59 years after Nigeria’s independence, its health sector had deteriorated in healthcare delivery, resulting in medical tourism.
According to him, “Government is not pumping money into the health sector.
“The Abuja Declaration on 15 per cent funding for the health sector is yet to be fulfilled.
“Quality health service delivery, not corruption, should be the focus of government because once a country does not get it right with its health and education systems, it has failed.
“The way emergency was declared in the security situation of the country, the same should be done for the health sector so that we can chart a way forward,” he said.
Saheed submitted that having a functional Primary Healthcare (PHC) system in the country was an effective way of addressing the nation’s health sector challenges.
