Benin City: Wife of the Edo State Governor Mrs. Betsy Obaseki has advised women in Edo State to get involved in the financial system of the country so that they will not be excluded from government’s health plans.
Mrs. Betsy Obaseki said this while delivering a keynote address on the topic Financial Inclusion in the Health Sector, at the second edition of the Edo Women’s Health Summit, put together by the Office of the Wife of the Governor of Edo state in Collaboration with the Edo State branch of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria and the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) Midwest sector.
Mrs. Betsy Obaseki who is also the Head, Business Development in the Bank of Industry informed the women that she will channel all the Federal Government initiatives for women empowerment that will be implemented through the Bank of Industry to them. She urged them to open bank accounts and as well own mobile phones so as to be able to participate in these government programs.
The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Professor David Osifo, said that the state government has commenced the rehabilitation of the Health Centers across the state to make accessing affordable healthcare closer to the people. He revealed that twenty Health Centers are being rehabilitated in the first phase with at least one from each of the eighteen Local Government Areas. Professor David Osifo said the Health Centers will be powered with Solar Energy while free drugs will be available for women and children. To ensure that the doctors and nurses are available to attend to patients, he said Governor Godwin Obaseki has also devised a means of monitoring their activities right from his office using Information Communication Technology. He also revealed that the State Government is also embarking on the Contributory Health Insurance Scheme to make healthcare affordable for the people.
The President of the Edo state Branch of the Medical Women Association, Dr Lucy Eriba said the association decided to partner with SOGON and the Office of the First Lady because they realized that people were still dying of preventable diseases largely because of lack of awareness.
The Chairman of Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) Midwest sector, Dr Mojeed Momoh said that the association has been involved in advocacy to sensitize women and are carrying out free health screening and providing free drugs in the course of the event while commending the Wife of the Governor for supporting in making this possible.
The chairman of the Local Organising committee of the event Dr Anthonia Njoku said the program was carefully packaged to sensitize women from all works of life in the state on the issues of Financial inclusion for women and its role in advancing reproductive health, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Family planning, Menopause and to address the myths surrounding Caesarean section.
