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 intervention programme, Bamidele said, “What we are doing is to give succour to those being afflicted by diseases who don’t have the means to seek medical treatments.
“Going by what some of the beneficiaries said, most of them had been experiencing the sicknesses for years, but today, they have been treated. Those with chronic health issues have been referred to better hospitals, and we were ready to foot the bills to give our people the dividends of democracy they deserve. ”
The National Assembly member promised that the free medical outreach programme would continue to provide safety nets for some of his poor constituents.
The Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, said that Bamidele’s achievements for Ekiti State had buttressed the fact that ranking federal lawmakers were beneficial to the state.
Oba Adejugbe, who hailed the lawmaker for his eyes on development, said, “Through Senator Bamidele’s unflagging commitment, the Ekiti Central Senatorial District has benefitted in terms of road infrastructures, healthcare delivery, scholarship programmes, bursary awards to students, and building of hostels for the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, to give students affordable accommodation.”
The monarch lauded the robust working partnership between Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji and Senator Bamidele, saying, “This has helped in giving the state a facelift in all spheres of the economy, especially in human capital development as a pillar of this administration.”
