Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has canvassed more support of private sector investments in the nation’s health sector as the Federal Government continues its drive towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 9 adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.
The SDG Goal 3 states that “Ensuring that people live healthy lives can cut child mortality and raise life expectancy” while Goal 9 states that sustainable economic growth and decent employment for all “involves building resilient infrastructure and fostering innovation.”
The Vice President made the call to the OPS during the launch of the Modular Healthcare Facility (MHF) built by Alpha Mead Healthcare Management Services at Gbagada General Hospital, Gbagada, Lagos.
The MHF is a state-of-the-art customised, mobility-enhanced, prefabricated portacabin with detachable modules equipped with and diagnostic equipment designed to make quality healthcare services available to Nigerians.
Represented at the event by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the Vice president expressed optimism that the innovative MHF would help Nigeria achieve the two vital SDGs.
He said: “I want to commend Alpha Mead Healthcare Management Service Limited for this initiative. I applaud the company for harnessing its scientific and technological expertise to make this solution available for use in the country. It will go a long way in supporting our journey towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
Osinbajo pointed out that that the MHF has “appropriately captured SDG Goal 9, which aims at building resilient infrastructure, promote industrialisation, and foster innovations across sectors including health, innovation, infrastructure, and new skill in technology development.”
This is even as he explained that the facility would also help drive SDG 3 and one of its targets of achieving universal health coverage in low and medium-income countries, adding that universal health coverage “is designed to ensure that everyone has access to key promotive, preventive, curative, and habilitative health services of good quality at an affordable cost without the risk of financial hardship linked to paying for healthcare services.”
In his remarks at the event, Group Chairman, Alpha Mead Group, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, pointed out that the launch of the MHF demonstrated that company’s brand promise of ‘we care’ is not just a platitude but a living commitment that expresses its essence as an organisation.
Noting that access to quality healthcare is the greatest challenge in Nigeria’s health sector, the medical investor maintained that the new facility would partly address the challenge, adding that , “a product that accelerates access, addresses manpower shortages, leverages technology and can be rolled out on a massive scale is what our healthcare sector needs, and we are happy to be leading this innovation.”
“The MHF is more than a healthcare facility. It is also an entrepreneurial package capable of serving both social and economic purposes by creating jobs and business opportunities for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, professional healthcare workers, and support staff”, Sunmonu added.
