INVESTMENT IN HEALTHCARE OUR PRIORITY, SAYS BAYELSA INFORMATION COMMISSIONER

YENEGOA, Bayelsa, Nigeria – Meeting the healthcare needs of all Bayelsans is central to the policy thrust of the state government in the health sector, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, has said.

According to him, public spending on health has increased in the recent times because the state government is more interested in preventive measure rather than wait for crisis management that usually comes with medical emergencies.

The Commissioner stated this during a thank-you and sensitisation visit on him by the State UNICEF Team on Friday in his office in Yenagoa.

Iworiso-Markson said that a number of medical infrastructures are being put in place, while the State Health Insurance Scheme, which is the brain child of Governor He ry Seriake Dickson, is providing opportunities for families that may not have financial muscle to procure medical services when they are sick.

He commended the Unicef team for their interest in the medical well-being of the child, assuring that the state Ministry of Information and Orientation will support immunization campaigns with publicity materials.

The Commissioner however, advised his guests to always inform the ministry ahead of time about their programmes so as to provide ample time for the ministry to sensitise and mobilise the populace, particularly those at rural communities to not only benefit from the life-saving vaccines but also guard against imputing wrong motives to such medical outreach programs as was the case with the monkey pox disease.

Earlier, the team leader and C4D Consultant on Measles, Shamsu Abdullahi had commended the state government for its investment in the Health sector. He, however, observed that many children are yet to be immunized against the Measles mellitus, which according to him is the deadliest of the nine child killed diseases.

He sought the Ministry of Information and Orientation’s assistance at creating public awareness on the killer disease with a view to mobilizing the hard-to- reach to bring their children and wards for immunization.

The Permanent Ministry, Mrs. Ebifayon Hosea-Igunnu and Directors in the Ministry of Information and Orientation were in attendance. Highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the state government 2018 Calendar to the Leader and other members of the Unicef Team.