Lagos Partners Pharmaceutical Firm to Boost Healthcare Delivery
The Lagos State government has embarked on a renewed effort to revamp its primary health care, in order to bring health care services closer to the people in the rural community, who constitute 75 per cent of the population of the country.
18 OCTOBER 2012
To achieve this, the government is partnering with an indigenous pharmaceutical company, Codix Pharma Limited in the upgrading of the knowledge of the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory scientists on the latest management of hypertension, diabetes and heart attack, in its primary healthcare centres.
The Managing Director of Codix Pharma Limited, Mr. Sammy Ogunjimi revealed at a recent workshop organised for health workers in six primary health centres across the State that, there are several diseases handled by the primary healthcare institution, but hypertension, diabetes and heart attack are the major ones on which training is being offered to build the capacity of the workers.
According to him, Codix has speciality in the management of the three areas of medical complications and also market drugs for the treatment of the conditions, stressing that the partnership with the Lagos State government is aimed at bringing to bear its expertise on the health care requirement of the state.
Ogunjimi said the company is not just going to train the health workers, but his company after training would make the latest equipment for the management of blood sugar, Clover AIC, for measuring HbAIC available to the primary health centres where those undergoing the training after they might have acquired the training on how to handle the equipment.
The Managing Director who claimed to have worked with Merck Pharmaceuticals, United Kingdom as the Regional Business Manager before relocating to Nigeria to head Codix, noted that, the reason why there is high incidence of diabetes and hypertension is due to poor life style, stressing that people nowadays eat too much of carbohydrate, without adequate exercise.
He said with the training of health personnel, there is opportunity for people to visit any primary health centre of their choice, where they could be screened and if found to be hypertensive or diabetic, treatment could commence immediately, stressing that most people who have both diseases do not know they have them.
In his address at the workshop, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Olatunde Williams, explained that, the primary health care institution is not the responsibility of the State government, but that of the federal, but since Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti made attempt to revamp it years ago before his death, no attempt has been made to revamp the institution.
He said because Governor Fashola is worried over the rate people die prematurely, that is the reason why he vowed to revamp the primary health, so that some killer diseases could be discovered and be treated before taking dangerous dimension.