The Director- General of the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control , Prof Mojisola Adeyeye , has said that 80
per cent of the equipment belonging to the agency has not been working.
Adeyeye made the statement on Monday in Lagos while receiving
members of the Senate Committee on Health who were on a tour of federal
health institutions in the state.
She said , “80 per cent of our equipment is no longer working
and that is a major challenge to deliver on our mandate . The last time ,
the World Health Organisation visited our laboratory in Yaba , they
scored us zero”
The NAFDAC DG also complained that the agency was understaffed and
awaiting the approval of the Head of Service of the Federation to
recruit more personnel.
On the debt profile of the agency, Adeyeye said she met a debt of N
3.2 bn when she assumed office , but she was able to reduce it to N 400
m .
The Vice - Chairman of the committee, Senator Clifford Ordia, urged
the NAFDAC boss to jettison the idea of procurring buses manufactured
abroad and patronise locally made vehicles in order to help grow the
economy .
The Chairman Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuosho, commended Adeyeye for her efforts in revamping the agency .
Tejuosho, however, told the DG to prioritise the needs of the
agency and present them to the Ministry of Health so that it would
reflect in the 2019 budget.
The committee also visited on-going projects at the Lagos
University Teaching Hospital , Idi - Araba , the Federal Medical Centre,
Ebute Meta , Federal Neuro- Psychiatrist Hospital, Yaba and the
National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi .
Speaking with journalists at the end of the exercise, Tejuosho said
the general observation in all the places the team visited was the
problem of funding and prompt release of fund to the hospitals .
“Most of them have only received about 10 per cent of their
2018 capital budget , which makes it difficult for us to blame them for
lack of performance. We cannot expect them to do a lot with only 10 per
cent of the fund they need for the whole year .
“We chose the institutions that we visited today because they
are the institution our people need to reverse medical tourism. Like the
National Orthopaedic Hospital in Igbobi , they must be given
special attention. This is because once you have an orthopeadic case ,
it is very difficult to be flown abroad until you are stabilised,”
Tejuosho said.
He also promised that his committee would ensure the improvement of
the budget appropriation for the hospitals , as well as appeal to the
Federal Government to make enough funds available to the health sector.
0 comments:
Post a Comment