Janet Ogundepo
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, says keeping Nigerians healthier by focusing on health promotion, will certainly reduce the cost of healthcare in the country.
Pate stated this at the Third National Health Promotion Conference and the maiden Health Promotion Day in Nigeria, held on October 29, 2024, in Abuja.
He urged Nigerians to take charge of their health by preventing avoidable diseases through informed lifestyle choices.
The don said, “Let’s produce health because we have 230 million estimated Nigerians. A few of them are sick and will need hospital care. Some are sick, but they don’t know yet that they are sick. But the majority of Nigerians are healthy. How do we keep them healthy for a long, long time? If we keep them healthier, we reduce the cost of our healthcare system. We allow the resources that we have to serve those who are very sick.
“We are expanding the infrastructure to be able to do that. We can help make more of the entire population of the country healthier by focusing on health promotion. That is what this is about and I want to encourage us all to move in that direction.”
Pate also said that despite the challenges in the country, Nigeria was on the move towards making a healthier nation possible.
He called for the uptake of hand washing, sanitation, basic hygiene, food safety and healthy lifestyle choices to prevent non-communicable diseases.
He said, “We are activating a national movement to make Nigeria healthier. It goes beyond just the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; it goes beyond the Federal Government to the state governments and what they are doing, to private sectors, civil society, to media, and everyone else.
“So today as we celebrate the first National Health Promotion Day, we are putting a stake on the ground, that this movement to make Nigeria healthier, to produce health for all Nigerians is a reality, and that we are committing ourselves to move forward, to take those steps to improve the stock of health, to prevent diseases that can be prevented, whether reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health issues, by taking preventive steps, whether it’s hand washing, sanitation, basic hygiene, whether it’s food safety, whether it’s preventing non-communicable diseases, through lifestyle choices.”
The Minister stated that the ongoing “Know Your Numbers, Control Your Numbers” campaign, led by the Commissioners of Health in all 36 states, was to ensure 10 million Nigerian adults checked and know their blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol.
He added that these checks would enable them to take remedial measures to control those numbers.
The don called for collective action to ensure Nigerians were healthier and more prosperous.
The Minister further announced the nomination of national ambassadors and national champions on health promotion and gave them awards.
He nominated the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, to serve as a national health promotion ambassador on behalf of all the governors of the 36 states.
He also nominated the Senate President, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, the Speaker and other ministers as ambassadors on health promotion.
Pate also nominated the 36 health commissioners as national champions of health promotion and the 774 Local Government Chairmen as champions of health promotion.
“It is all of us that will join hands to make Nigeria healthier. For those who are suffering from kidney disease, from diabetes, sometimes these diseases take several years before you get to where they get complicated.
“We want to reposition the Ministry of Health to be truly a Ministry of Health, not a Ministry of Disease or Ministry of Treating Sickness because health is something that you can produce. You can produce it by eating well, proper hygiene, checking your numbers, taking care of your health, screening against diseases and getting them treated,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Nigerian Health Commissioners’ Forum and the Ekiti State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani, commended the partnership between FG and the states to ensure that all Nigerians had access to good quality care.
He encouraged Nigerians to participate in the ongoing “Know Your Numbers, Control Your Numbers” screening, stating, “When you know it, it’s also important that you’re able to control those numbers, particularly for hypertension and diabetes, two of the major silent killers that we have in Nigeria.”
PUNCH Healthwise reports that the “Project 10 Million-Know Your Numbers, Control Your Numbers” campaign began on October 28 and would continue till November 3, 2024, across several states of the federation.
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