By Abiodun Nejo The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has lamented that many Nigerians still die of treatable diseases due to poverty and poor access to Medicare. Bamidele, who made a case for an improved primary healthcare system to reduce the mortality rate among Nigerian citizens substantially, appealed to state governors “to prioritise the health needs of those at the grassroots, where over 70 per cent of the population reside.” The senator representing the Ekiti Central Senatorial District, represented by his Senior Legislative Aide, Bunmi Oguntuase, spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Friday, while rounding off the second phase of his free medical outreach across the district’s five local government areas, where 9,400 persons benefitted.
Earlier, 6,600 constituents had benefitted from the first phase of the programme undertaken in partnership with the Industrial Arbitration Panel, thus raising the number of beneficiaries to 16,000. The beneficiaries were diagnosed and treated for ailments like hepatitis, hypertension, visual problems, diabetes, and hernia, while free eyeglasses were given to those suffering all manners of visual impairments. The senate leader said, “Poor access of many Nigerians to quality healthcare remains a snag in the attainment of the Universal Health Coverage.
Let me advise our governors to invest more in the primary healthcare sector that remains the closest to the poor masses.” Speaking on the free health interventio.