Edo State Government yesterday threatened to fine and permanently close health facilities that fail to meet stipulated health standards in the state.

The Chief Executive Officer, Edo State Health Regulatory and Monitoring Agency (EDOHERMA), Dr Adesuwa Urhoghide-Edigin, who issued the threats in Benin yesterday while briefing journalists, disclosed that more than 20 health facilities sealed in the state for not meeting stipulated standards are currently taking steps to correct identified inadequacies.

She stressed that the enforcement exercise was not designed merely to punish operators but to ensure compliance and protect patients.

Urhoghide-Edigin, while noting that EDOHERMA is the statutory agency responsible for regulating and monitoring healthcare standards across Edo State, noted that the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo is committed to ensuring that Edo residents have access to healthcare facilities that meet approved standards.

According to her, some of the facilities earlier sealed were not registered with the Edo State Government, while others had obtained registration but failed to maintain the standards under which they were initially registered.

She said: “Even in the sealing we have been doing, we are also encouraging such facilities to know that we are not all punitive and that we are also supportive. Over 20 health facilities for now are doing what we have already asked them to do and, when they finish, we are also going to come back to the public to say they have done better.

“That is why we are revalidating,” she said, adding that the exercise would enable the agency to establish the actual status and compliance level of healthcare facilities across the state.

The EDOHERMA boss, however, warned that facilities that refuse to upgrade or persistently operate below approved standards would face permanent closure, while the agency is also set to introduce enforcement fines for defaulters.

“We are going to close permanently those that fail to upgrade their health standard,” she declared, stressing that enforcement would be balanced with support for operators willing to comply.

She said the agency was currently undertaking enumeration and revalidation of health facilities across the 18 local council areas, adding that the exercise would also expose quack facilities operated by unlicensed persons.