Obaze hits Obianno over Healthcare in Anambra , says construction of Helipad at Onitsha senseless

www.odogwublog.com reports that Anambra State 2017 Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Governorship Aspirant and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Selonnes Consult limited,  Mr. Oseloka Henry Obaze is worried about poor and unavailable healthcare available in the country using Anambra as a case study.
Obaze spoke at the Public Brainstorming Forum on “Ideas That Can Propel Individual/Private Sector Interest To Erect World-class Health Firms For Quality Medicare To Man” At the St. Cletus Auditorium, Otolo Nnewi, On Saturday 8th July, 2017
Obaze who fears to fall sick to avoid ending up in a Nigerian hospital, said Healthcare delivery is a very important public sector and private sector issue. An unhealthy nation or society is in crisis and in a profound one at that.
He admitted Nigeria’s Healthcare system is in distress: ‘’As a public policy expert and someone who is seeking public office in our state, I know that our healthcare delivery is in serious crisis. People still die of preventable causes in Nigeria. This is sad, worrisome and scary, but it is the reality.
Ex-raying the state of healthcare in Anambra as it stands now, Obaze pointed out that : ‘’No general hospital in Anambra state can or runs a 24-hours service. No functional toilets for staff, patients and patient-relations in any of our general hospitals; waiting areas are dismally poor. No constant water supply in our hospitals; despite numerous boreholes. No alternative power supply in our hospitals. Most not connected to National grid.
In fact, Obaze sees the construction of Helipad at General Hospital Onitsha as most senseless, demanding to know where is the helicopter coming from or going to?

He regretted that recently Anambra lost its hard-earned UNICEF award for state performance on immunization though all vaccines including the cold-chain are donor-funded.

He added that despite that some treatments like Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS services are sponsored by foreign donors, our people are not being tested robustly, and availed these service.
Obaze who is married to a Physician continued: ‘’My disposition to problem solving is first to determine or diagnose the problem then find the appropriate solution. When that is done then we can start filling the critical yawning gaps. Prevailing healthcare challenges in Nigeria and Anambra State, could be attributed to limited funding, diminished professionalism, dearth of infrastructure, poor policy focus and regulation and absence of critical partnership between the state and the churches and private investors.

‘’Healthcare delivery anywhere in the world is not cheap. But a slant towards social healthcare delivery is possible. What is more important is to start on the premise that quality and affordable health care should be a right, not a privilege. But to attract investors, both domestic and foreign, we must focus on the right policies, the correct regulation, insist on full compliance and have a commitment to service delivery.

He decried that some persons have lost their lives because of wrong diagnosis or no diagnosis at all, adding that wrong diagnosis could be deleterious to a patient.
On funding Healthcare, Obaze said: ‘’we must adapt our healthcare delivery services to global best practices. The recent clamour to retain Obamacare by the Americans was spearheaded by the democrats who cried wolf when it was first instituted under President Barrack Obama. The cost of health care is a huge challenge to the citizens of Nigeria. Healthcare is said to be available when it is accessible, affordable and of good quality. The advantages/benefits of health insurance could be harnessed by the private sector to make healthcare available, affordable and indeed accessible.

He said Anambra State has not joined the NHIS and is still tinkering with the idea of establishing a community-health insurance scheme. He added that Generic drugs could be manufactured to lower cost and thus making healthcare affordable in Nigeria as what is obtainable is a far cry.