HEALTH MINISTER URGES HOSPITALS TO SAVE LIVES IN EMERGENCY CASES BEFORE DEMAND FOR MONEY

Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, has urged all public hospitals nationwide to desist from the habit of demanding for money before attending to patients during emergencies.

During his first official visit to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH on Friday, the Minister directed the Management of LUTH to evacuate patients from the Accident and Emergency ward within 24 hours after they are treated and are stable so as to create spaces for new patients.

This was after the Minister said only 6,000 Primary Healthcare Centres, PHCs out of the 30,000 in the country were functional.

Adewole blamed the poor performance of public hospitals and PHCs on underfunding.

He said, “Accidents, among other emergency cases can occur at anytime, so patients should not be refrained from accessing treatment. The normal way of demanding from money before attending to emergency cases is appalling and will not be tolerated.

“The poverty indicator shows that 60 to 70 percent of Nigerians are poor. This means about 100 million people are poor in Nigeria. So, we will provide basic care through the PHC system for Nigerians,” the Minister stated.