Medical men know too well that if many people (through education) were less free in their choice of the types of food they eat, of the beverage they drink, of the clothing they wear, and of the houses they live in, the health of the community would be more than 100 times improved.' - Awo, 1947'We intend to raise the standard of health care delivery in our state and use education, also, as vaccine against ill health.' - Amosun, 2011The recent article in major Nigerian newspapers, 'Free Education in Ogun: An Evaluation', was received by so many readers with effusions of gratitude to the current governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.For instance, Adeleye Yahaya, writing via lateefyahaya74@gmail.com, said, 'I read the piece on the above subject and I must confess, it really touched me and I was almost moved to tears as I happened to be one of the beneficiaries of the Free Education System in Ogun State, and particularly the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the programme. I was then in my primary school but will never forget the celebration in a hurry as the entire schools in my local government were joyous, with each school slaughtering a cow and all the pupils singing 'EKO OFE PE ODUN MEDOGBON...'. Kudos to the amiable governor of Ogun State for restoring the glory of education to the state.'The second cardinal programme of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration is Efficient Health Care Delivery, which has a component part of free health services for pregnant women, children under the age of five and the elderly above 70.But the start-off point for the all-important Efficient Health Care Delivery programme and its component part of free services for the three groups is renovation of all the health care centres and other moribund health facilities spread across the state.How do you provide quality health care service to patients in a derelict hospital, without water and electricity' The Central Drug Store at Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta, for instance, was in a state of decay while health care workers at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) were on strike, with the medical, surgical and children's wards' buildings 'dangerously dilapidated' (to quote the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka) at the time of the inauguration of the current government.The achievements so far are too numerous to mention because of constraint of space. However, suffice it to say that 47 Primary Health Care Centres spread across all the local councils in the state have been rehabilitated, equipped and provided with a generator and borehole. Another set of 50 have been targeted for the next phase. There is now industrial calm in the health sector as arrears of salaries owed by the previous administration have substantially been cleared by the current government, even as more qualified medical personnel are being employed to ensure that all the 236 wards in the state have capable hands.The health care renaissance in Ogun has been the responsibility of all, because, as the maxim goes, health is wealth. Hence the active involvement of the wife of the Governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, in the sensitisation of the public on healthy living and in creating a state-wide awareness on epidemic prone diseases such as cholera and Lassa Fever. She's equally been in the forefront of campaign on school-based deworming exercise, immunisation of children against child-killer diseases like Malaria and Cancer Screening/ Awareness, among others. Thirty-five (35) HIV/AIDS counselling/ testing centres and 31 Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) sites have been created across the state to take care of people living with HIV/AIDS, including free drugs for people living with the disease.The restoration of sanity to the Ogun health sector has been challenging but an extremely rewarding exercise. The state is now receiving a major support from local and international donor agencies and collaboration with corporate and non-governmental organisations is generating a positive momentum in the sector. For instance, the collaboration between the state government and the Rotary Club International led to the donation of 500 Artificial Limbs and setting up of an artificial limb service centre while the partnership between the government, Rotary Club International and Indo Eye Care Foundation assisted in offering free eye surgical operation to residents Beside the agreement with MTN Foundation on Mobile Clinic, the governor recently signed a multi-million dollar five-year deal with a major Nigerian Corporation (SHELL) to revitalise primary health care delivery, especially among the rural population. And Ogun State will now be able to benefit from the maternal and child health initiatives of the agencies of the United Nations.The free health policy of Amosun, which is a subset of the second cardinal programme of his government - Efficient Health Care Delivery - has three interconnected stages: (a) rehabilitation of heath care centres with provision of modern facilities and adequate medical personnel that are motivated with enviable conditions of service; (b) introduction of Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS), where every individual contributes a token (a premium) to access qualitative (and by implication) affordable health services; (c) and from the template of CBHIS, the dream of Governor Amosun is fulfilled, as government takes over the payment of premium for the three categories of citizens to enjoy free health services - the pregnant women, Under-5 children and the elderly above 70. The health policy of the administration, is therefore, running according to plan, in spite of the challenges inherited.One must commend the systematic and scientific approach of Senator Amosun towards health care revival in Ogun State. With the political will he has provided, there is no doubt that the forward-looking Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS) will ensure the community is a part owner of health care delivery, hence will save the laudable free health policy of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led government from the 0/vagaries of politics especially after his meritorious.Soyombo, Special Assistant on Media to the Governor of Ogun State, writes via densityshow@yahoo.com
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