Prioritise health issues in campaigns, NIPSS DG urges politicians

Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, has called on political parties to make health matters prominent in their electioneering.

He spoke yesterday at a policy dialogue on strengthening health governance at the local council level the institute organised in collaboration with the Development Research and Projects Centre (DRPC).

Omotayo said it was equally imperative for the parties, which will eventually form government at the national and state levels, to prioritise health in their programmes.

The DG lamented that the country’s health sector is in severe crisis occasioned by weak delivery of primary healthcare, poor health infrastructure, inadequate personnel, poor handling of health emergencies and the absence of planning for health at the local council level, including resource diversions and the absence of autonomy.

His words: “These factors have made the achievement of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through primary healthcare difficult. If the situation is not reversed, it will be absolutely difficult to achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3), which is dedicated to ensuring healthy lives and the promotion of the well-being of all citizens at all ages.

“It is because of this that NIPSS and DRPC found it imperative to create this platform for deep reflections on health governance at the sub-national levels in our country.”