…signs 2 MOUs
By Hassan Zaggi
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to transform tertiary hospitals in the country into vibrant hubs of healing and hope, where patients can receive affordable, timely, world-class and excellent medical care and also be treated with dignity and compassion.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, disclosed this during the signing ceremony of two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), in Abuja, recently.
The two MOUs which were with the sole aim of to strengthening standards and improve service delivery in federal tertiary hospitals in the country,
were between the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHIS) and PharmAccess Foundation, Society for Quality in Healthcare in Nigeria (SQHN).
NTHISC is a federal government body established by the National Health Act 2014 to ensure high standards and compliance in the nation’s tertiary health institutions.
Represented by the Director, Health Planning, Research and Statistics, Dr. Kamil Shoretire, the Minister noted that the partnership was timely and that is a new dawn for Nigeria’s healthcare system, stressing that quality healthcare is the backbone of national development.
“Our federal tertiary hospitals must transform into vibrant hubs of healing and hope, where patients not only receive excellent medical care but are treated with dignity and compassion,” the Minister noted.
According to Dr. Salako, the Memoranda of Understanding were in line with what he described as the mandate of the National Health Act 2014 which, according to him, empowers the NTHISC to set and enforce standards in tertiary hospitals nationwide.
He stressed that PharmAccess and SQHN bring international expertise recognised by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) which would be combined with local knowledge to drive sustainable reforms.
On his part, the Chairman of the NTHISC, Prof. Abiodun Philip, explained that the collaboration would enable periodic assessments of tertiary hospitals in the country, leading to a performance-based ranking system that would reveal the comparative quality of services across facilities.
The initiative, he disclosed, would improve healthcare delivery and also help reverse medical tourism by ensuring that all Nigerians have access to qualitative and affordable world-class services within the country.
Prof. Philip stressed that: “The task of quality improvement in our tertiary healthcare institutions is enormous, but we remain courageously resolute. With these partnerships, we are confident of achieving enviable results that will strengthen our health system.”
He revealed that NTHISC was also collaborating with other international partners to establish a national organ donation and transplantation registry, introduce robotic surgery, and expand oncology services in Nigeria.
Speaking separately, PharmAccess and SQHN pledged their commitment to supporting Nigeria in building a robust and patient-centered health system.
