Health care professionals have been called upon to emphasize the promotion of disease prevention strategies through sustained advocacy as part of efforts to fully eradicate or drastically reduce a wide range of diseases and other persistent and emerging health challenges in our society.
This call was given by His Excellency Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State during the 41st Annual General and Scientific Meeting of the West African College of Physicians, Nigerian Chapter held on 19/07/2017, at Orchid Hotels, Asaba.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa represented by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Azinge, noted that this year’s theme for the Annual General and Scientific Meeting “Universal Access to Health: A Basic Necessity for Sustainable Healthcare Leadership for Sustainable Development Goal 3”, is very apt in this changing world of healthcare delivery, which is evolving at an exponential rate with technological advancement.
He added that the Annual General and Scientific Meeting is “an opportunity to discuss various challenges in the health sector, especially by professionals in the medical field who know and should provide solutions to point the way forward”.
The Governor said his administration has confronted some of the challenges in the health sector and best efforts are still maintained despite being faced with the realities of dwindling resources both at the national and State levels.
According to His Excellency, “as a State, we have made significant strides in reducing some of the common killer diseases associated with child and maternal mortality”, adding that major progress has also been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
In his welcome address, the national Chairman, West African College of Physicians, Nigerian Chapter, Dr. Abel Onunu acknowledged the giant strides the State Government is making particularly in the health sector.
He commended the Governor Okowa’s ‘SMART Agenda’ evident in the fact that Delta State is the first State in the federation to establish and implement a health insurance scheme which some few states have also commenced.
Dr. Onunu said the choice of a specific focus for each year is a tradition in the Annual General and Scientific Meeting of the College which has proved to be an invaluable forum for the yearly review of the activities of the College and exchange of innovative concepts in health services and research findings.
Earlier, Dr Leo Erhunmwunsee, Chairman, Local Organizing Committee said in his welcome address that in a sub-region where the burden of health care challenges far out strips the available funds as provided in the yearly budgets of countries in the sub-region, and the dearth of health care providers, this conference is set to suggest the way forward.
He posited that the best time to plan and strategize for the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 is now and through the working together to bring about the reduction of the region’s awful health care indexes for the benefit of our people.
The West African College of Physicians was formally inaugurated in Lagos on the 23rd of October 1976. It is the largest specialized agency of the West African Health Community which was recently changed to West African Countries with headquarters at Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina.
Two major functions of the College are training and certification of physicians in its six different faculties (academic specialty unit) namely; community health; family medicine, internal medicine, paediatrics; laboratory medicine and psychiatry.
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