As part of efforts to revamp the nation’s healthcare delivery system, the Federal Government has held its inaugural quarterly dialogue on the performance of the health sector across the country in the past months.
The dialogue conveyed by the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, on Monday, was between the federal authorities and sub-national governments, and key stakeholders in the health sector.
Disclosing this in a statement on X, the minister said the dialogue was organised as a part of the nation’s commitment to revamping the health system using the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the Sector-Wide Approach, backed by the National Health Act of 2014.
“This marks a bold and hopeful step towards transforming our health system through the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the Sector-Wide Approach, emphasising the cooperative federalism mandated by the National Health Act of 2014,” he said.
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This morning, we had the pleasure of holding the inaugural Quarterly Performance Dialogue between the Federal Government, 36 State Governments, and all key stakeholders in the health sector. This marks a bold and hopeful step towards transforming our health system through the… pic.twitter.com/FoRW0eGKFl
— Muhammad Ali Pate (@muhammadpate) July 15, 2024
According to him, the goal of the dialogue is to promote collaboration and equitable distribution of responsibilities among health workers and providers at both national and sub-national levels of government alongside the private sector and development partners.
The minister also affirmed the government’s “unwavering commitment to improving population health outcomes for all Nigerians,” saying the Ministry of Health has chosen to prioritise the improvement of the Penta 3 immunisation coverage for children and simultaneously reduce the population of children without immunisation.
He stated the government is deploying every available tool to reduce the maternal mortality rate and improve safe deliveries, antenatal care, skilled workers, and health insurance.
“We are focused on improving Penta 3 coverage, increasing the proportion of fully immunised children, reducing the number of zero-dose children, enhancing the proportion of deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants, improving antenatal care coverage, and increasing access to health insurance and primary healthcare services,” he added.
