THE medical practitioners in the country have reaffirmed the importance of entrusting the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre (OTNPC), Ijebu-Ode to the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and the University College Hospital (UCH) to the health delivery in the country as well as the community.The OTNPC, incorporating National Institute of Child Health Care is the first-purpose built private children hospital designed to be at the apex of nation's child health system that acts as a catalyst to the nation's drive towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (GDP) on infant and child survival.The founder, Otunba Michael Balogun said that the handing over of the centre to UCH/UI was a way of giving back to humanity what God has given to him and making the centre more effective as well as reaching its full capacity.He pledged to continue the subsidisation of the centre until it becomes self-sustaining, urging UCH to expand the services beyond children but not lose focus on child's health, which engendered the centre.The Provost College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof. Omigbodun Akinyinka said that such philanthropy would go a long way in enabling the UCH/UI to retain the flagship position in the healthcare delivery and medical education in Nigeria as well as West African Sub-region.'The College of Medicine will immortalise Balogun for his centre will afford the students the opportunity of connecting to other localities outside Ibadan, such as the Igbo-Ora and currently in Ijebu Ode in Ogun State,' Akinyinka said. According to the former Minister of Health and the current Provost of OTNPC, Prof. Adenike Grange, the centre, which is envisaged to be a referral tertiary centre of excellence for teaching, research and delivery of health services for children will go a long way to reducing the rate of infant, mother and child mortality in the society.She noted that in the past few years, health has increasingly been recognised as a key component of global security, sustainable economic growth and good governance. 'As a result of this consensus, its importance in the global agenda has escalated, leading to unprecedented growth in development assistance for health.'As a universally shared value, she stated, health is an indicator of the general progress of society and reflection of its success in securing equal opportunities for all its members, adding that medical care alone is not enough to address the health woes of the poor, which are often related to diet, living condition and stress.'I have felt that the most important impediment to the reforms in any system in Nigeria is the country's public sector institutional culture, which is focused on short-term goals as opposed to evidence-based long term enduring actions with potential to bring about sustainable change,' she said.'We couldn't have accomplished what we did without our partnership with the staff, people, organisation and institution dedicated to the right to healthcare. It's our hope to build on those relationships, to help strengthen lasting collaboration with health professionals, media schools, clinics and other hospitals to ensuring that maternal and child mortality are forced down, especially in the rural areas.
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