Prof. Daprim-Samuel Ogaji of the University of Port Harcourt has called on the Federal Government to establish a sustainable system for maintaining medical equipment to improve healthcare delivery.
Ogaji, Director of the Africa Centre of Excellence in Public Health and Toxicology Research (ACE-PUTOR), made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the 11th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Intensive and Critical Care Society of Nigeria (I-CCSN).
The conference, themed “Sustainable Financing for Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Public Health Facilities: Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions,” also featured sessions on data in critical care, sepsis management in Nigeria and mechanical ventilation in low-resource settings.
Ogaji said a structured maintenance system had become imperative because of the high cost of medical equipment and the need to ensure optimal use of available resources.
He said every Nigerian should have access to critical healthcare services whenever needed, irrespective of economic status.
“As policymakers and decision-makers, we must make healthcare accessible to the people.
“The financial burden of illness is often unexpected. Therefore, we must build an efficient health system as one of the outcomes of this conference,” he said.
According to him, government budgets at the federal and state levels remain the major source of healthcare financing.
He said inadequate funding had serious consequences for patients and public health facilities.
“Sustainable financing means providing adequate funding consistently, year after year.
“Government must ensure that the healthy and wealthy cross-subsidise care for the sick and the poor, while increasing health sector allocations at both federal and state levels.
“There must be deliberate policies to make Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) work, while the Federal Ministry of Health should establish systems that support effective service delivery.
“We must also integrate intensive care services into Nigeria’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC),” he said.
Earlier, the President of I-CCSN, Dr. Job-Gogo Otokwala, called for dedicated and protected funding for intensive care services in public health facilities.
He also urged hospital management to invest strategically in infrastructure, equipment maintenance, workforce retention and clinical governance.
“We seek enduring partnerships with development partners and industry to support research, innovation, education and sustainable capacity development,” Otokwala said.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Dr. Harrison Nwogu, said the society was proud to inaugurate the Maj.-Gen. Obashina Ogunbiyi Lecture Series.
Nwogu commended the conference sponsors, collaborators and participants, as well as the conference chairman, Dr. Olalekan Olatise, Medical Director of Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre, Abuja, for supporting the successful hosting of the event.
