FG pledges to drive healthcare infrastructure in Lagos

• Commissions Out-patient Clinic, ICU In Oshodi
In line with its mandate to expand healthcare infrastructure in the country, the Federal Government has unveiled a new set of facilities in the Oshodi area of Lagos, to boost neuropsychiatric healthcare.

The facilities, which were partly-financed from donations from kind-hearted Nigerians, include an outpatients clinic, a molecular laboratory, an intensive care unit (ICU)/isolation ward and a hostel building for Federal School of Occupational Therapy.

Speaking at the commissioning of the projects, the State Minister for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora, said Nigeria needed more infrastructure to drive improved service in the healthcare industry.

He said: “There is an expansion of the infrastructure in healthcare delivery. At the onset of COVID-19, we had just about four molecular centres in the country. Today, we have above 100. So, you can see the exponential growth…”

He cautioned Nigerians to imbibe a good maintenance culture for public infrastructure, adding that “it is more sustainable to be proactive than reactive in regards to safeguarding our healthcare facilities.”

The Medical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr. Oluwayemi Ogun, said the new annex was strategic to providing aid to more Nigerians in different parts of the city, especially those around Badagry, Mile 2 and Abeokuta Expressway, among others.

She admonished Nigerians to pay more attention to their mental health.

In a related development, as Nigerians further await a new delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Minister hinted that the vaccines would arrive soon, without stating exactly when.