Leke Baiyewu, Abuja
The House of Representatives has decried the dilapidated state of facilities at the nation’s tertiary hospitals, asking the Federal Government to fix all of them across the country.
The House, at the plenary on Wednesday, unanimously adopted a motion moved by a member from Lagos State, Ibrahim Obanikoro.
It was titled ‘Need to Address the Deteriorating Infrastructure, Lack of Basic Amenities and Inhuman Treatment of Patients at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.’
Adopting the motion, the House urged the Federal Ministry of Health to upgrade all Federal University Teaching Hospitals to international standards.
The House also mandated the Committee on Health Institutions to “investigate the condition of the facilities and amenities at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and all Federal University Teaching Hospitals in the country, including the budgetary provisions as well as their disbursement.”
Moving the motion, Obanikoro noted that LUTH was established with the sole objective of improving on the experience and training of medical staff and to raise the standard of the medical industry in Nigeria.
Obanikoro also recalled that in September 2018, the Socio–Economic Rights and Accountability Project, a Non–Governmental Organisation, drew the attention of the government to the deteriorating conditions of LUTH and other teaching hospitals across the country, which included lack of capacity, infrastructure and basic amenities.
He said, “The House is worried that the deplorable conditions of Federal Teaching Hospitals across the country could lead to loss of lives and erode the confidence of the people in Nigeria’s health care system, thereby instigating medical tourism and brain drain.
“The House is disturbed that if the funds appropriated for teaching hospitals are not properly monitored, they may be directed to other purposes, thereby contributing to decay in the health sector.”
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