By Blessing Otobong-Gabriel
Federal government has inaugurated the implementation committee for a national dialogue on power in the health sector.
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako disclosed this during the inauguration of the Implementation Committee for the National Stakeholders Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector.
He said this move aims to address the chronic power challenges facing hospitals and healthcare institutions.
According to him, the committee’s primary objective is to facilitate a national dialogue on power in the health sector, ensuring that all stakeholders are engaged and empowered to contribute to the decision-making process. This initiative is crucial in addressing the complex health challenges facing Nigeria, including inadequate funding, inefficient resource allocation and poor service delivery.
He said by inaugurating this committee, the federal government has demonstrated its commitment to address the power challenges facing the health sector. The committee’s work will be crucial in identifying practical solutions to ensure reliable and efficient power supply to hospitals and healthcare institutions.
Salako disclosed that government has risen to this challenge through various initiatives including 50 percent electricity subsidy for public hospitals and the provision of solar power mini-grids in selected hospitals.
“These initiatives have not been able to substantially address the challenges, thus the need for an urgent rethinking of our traditional models of power generation and supply to hospitals. Indeed, the current situation requires a collaborative whole-of-government approach as we work across sectors to resolve the challenging issues that are beyond the purview of the health sector”.
The minister assured that the time for experimentation and haphazard adoption of unproven platforms for energy sourcing is over. “We can no longer afford business as usual in the face of mounting energy bills of our hospitals. The time has come for all hands to be on deck to relieve our hospitals of the burden of prohibitive cost of power supply which gulps hundreds of millions of naira monthly.
“This is the time to be creative and innovative as we move to develop and adopt smart energy solutions that will strengthen our health system and empower us to deliver on our core mandate of improving population health outcomes”.
In his closing remark, Babatunde Ipaye, who is the Vice Chairman of the committee who former Lagos State Commissioner, plagued commitment to lead the National Stakeholders Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector towards finding solutions to the challenges that have plagued the sector over the past years.
The vice chairman said he is aware of the intricacies of our healthcare system and the urgent need for reliable power supply and pledged the commitment of the committee to work tirelessly, exploring innovative solutions and best practices to address the power challenges facing health institutions.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Ms Daju Kachollom emphasized the critical nature of the health sector in Nigeria, highlighting the significant challenges posed by power issues.
Recently, the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital faced severe power challenges, a problem that plagues institutions across Nigeria.
According to the permanent secretary, the newly inaugurated committee will play a vital role in addressing these challenges, driving solutions and fostering growth. With reliable power supply, businesses around hospital environments will flourish, and collaboration among stakeholders will help overcome the power issues plaguing health institutions.
