Obaseki to partner World Medical Association on Edo health sector reforms

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his administration will partner with the World Medical Association (WMA) to improve the delivery of quality and affordable healthcare for Edo people.

The governor said this during a courtesy visit by the President of the World Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, at the Government House in Benin City.

He said that Edo State is honoured to have Dr. Enabulele as President of the WMA, noting, “It is a state honour for an Edo indigene to emerge as President of the World Medical Association. It is high time medical practice in Edo is upgraded and projected to the world scene. We were very clear when you got your nomination and we have no choice but to support you.

“This is not about you but God putting you in that position to help us address some fundamental global and domestic health issues. We are in the era of pandemics and brain drain which has never been higher than it is today. We are caught in between growing demand and need for health services and losing the resources we have to the rest of the world. This calls for a lot of work,” he said.

Obaseki noted, “We have no choice but to strengthen our healthcare system particularly in Nigeria. We all know what we are going through and what we need to do at the national level. It is not insurmountable. It is not something we cannot accomplish within half a decade. The resources and the capacity already exist. We have seen the kind of resources that you have pushed in on the continent in another outbreak of Ebola in some part of the continent

“We will have to have a fresh rethink about human resourcing and personnel development for our state because the gap we need to fill is quite huge. We will continue to engage with you because we know we have only been able to touch the surface of what we need to do. We are so blessed with people like you and the rest of your community.

“If we cannot fix our healthcare system in this generation, I don’t know what will happen in the years to come so our doors will always be open to collaborate with you.”