Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin
Lagos — The Federal Government has inaugurated an Implementation Committee for National Stakeholders Dialogue on Power in the health sector, aimed at achieving sustainable electrification of public healthcare facilities.
The primary objective of the national dialogue is to amongst others enhance public- private partnerships to ensure a steady electricity supply to public health institutions. It will also identify alternative and sustainable solutions by exploring renewable energy options, backup power systems and energy-efficient solutions to enhance power reliability in tertiary and other health facilities across the country.
Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the Minister of State for Health & Social Welfare announced the urgent initiative during the inauguration of the implementation committee for national dialogue on power in the health sector at the Ministry’s headquarters office in Abuja.
During the inauguration, the Minister highlighted the compelling reasons for hosting a national dialogue on power to resolve electricity challenges in our public healthcare facilities.
He said: “It is obvious that the current efforts are neither integrated nor guided by any holistic framework, operational guideline, or overarching policy. 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 costs of power supply which gulps hundreds of millions of naira.”
To this end, the Minister said his decision to inaugurate an Implementation Committee for national dialogue on power in the health sector was informed by the compelling need to plan and prepare adequately to prevent poor performance.
According to the Minister, the terms of reference for the committee includes Convening the National Stakeholders Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector; Ensuring effective implementation of recommendations from the National Dialogue; Mobilizing resources and attracting investments for sustainable electrification of public healthcare facilities, using a whole-of-government approach.
He seized the opportunity of the inauguration to appreciate the priority attention accorded the health sector by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which he stated, is steadily taking Nigeria on the path to universal health coverage.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, who was represented by Dr. Salahudeen Jimoh, Director Hospital Services Department, emphasized the critical importance of power to tertiary and other public health facilities in ensuring effective and efficient delivery of healthcare services to Nigerians.
She expressed optimism that with the proposed national dialogue on power, comprising major stakeholders, the teething problem of electricity challenges in healthcare facilities would be comprehensively addressed and resolved.
