Under previous administration in this country, the scourge of guinea worm infections has not only been a nightmare but also a pandemic that has ravaged the population of the nation. Despite concerted efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Yakubu Gowon Centre, guinea worm scourge had continued to fester.
The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has now changed the narrative through his commendable transformation agenda which permeates all sectors of the economy.
In the health sector, the transformation agenda has found lucid expression in landmark achievements. The transformation in the sector is seen in the upgrading of the facilities in all the hospitals scattered all over the nation. One of the immediate results in the health sector is the remarkable eradication of incidence of guinea worm in the country.
Validation: Recently, the Director General of WHO, Dr. Margret Chang, presented a certificate from W.H.O. indicating that Nigeria is now a guinea worm-free country. That was a pointer to the fact that with support for Jonathan’s administration, more feats would be recorded in the health sector as it is evidenced in other sectors of the economy since he took over the leadership of the country.
The W.H.O. certification of Nigeria, as guinea worm-free country, is a landmark achieved under the administration of Jonathan. Before now, the target set for the eradication of the disease in the country was 1996; it took the nation seventeen years after to scale the hurdle. I sincerely believe the Jonathan administration deserves commendation.
I also identify with the president’s decision to celebrate the international certification at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting recently after the good news was announced by the Health Minister, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu. Jonathan said that the achievement of the guinea worm eradication in the country would reinforce his administration’s commitment to fight against many endemic diseases such as HIV/AIDs, malaria, tuberculosis and polio.
He said that the transmission of wild polio would be interrupted before the end of the year. Jonathan said: “We are pleased today to receive from the Director General, Dr. Margret Chang, and the certificate from W.H.O., indicating that Nigeria is now a guinea worm-free country. We are especially delighted that the milestone coincides with the period we are marking our centenary as a nation. It is certainly a centenary gift to this country. The certification, by W.H.O., is a global recognition of how far we have come and the success of the work that has been done to rid our nation of this scourge.”
For those who never saw anything good in the administration of Jonathan, the recent certification is thus an eye opener to the potential and capacity for success that are embedded in our nation and its leadership.
Indeed, the speed with which the transformation agenda of this administration is being pursued in the health sector is indicative of the commitment by government to deal with and consign other life threatening diseases prevalent in the country, to the dustbin of history.
Available statistics show greater improvements in the health sector than were recorded by previous administrations. Most of the government-owned hospitals in the country have been upgraded with modern facilities and human resources that it is now near impossible for capital flight all in the name of medical tourism.
With the Jonathan administration, the era of dearth of drugs in government-owned hospitals is over. You will not only get the most of the prescribed drugs for any particular ailment but also get qualified medical personnel to attend to you without attitude.
In the area of combating spread of polio in the country, it is noteworthy that in the southern part of the country where religion has not interfered in the distribution of polio vaccine, there has been a tremendous progress in the efforts to eradicate polio in the country. If only the northern axis will emulate the southern part of the country, the eradication of the deadly disease will be matter of a few years if not months.
This is the only administration since 1960 that has made it a priority to ensure that there is no dearth of drugs in the various government-owned hospitals in the country. It should be noted that the Jonathan administration, unlike his predecessors, has never paid lip service to the provision of healthcare to the citizenry.
If not for the consistency of the administration in the provision of required drugs in the government-owned hospital, maybe the certification of the country as a guinea worm-free nation would not have been achieved.
You can imagine the volume of foreign reserves that would be saved by the time the transformation agenda of the administration is fully implemented in all sectors of the political economy; and, as Jonathan has rightly pointed out during the celebration of the certification of the nation as guinea worm-free country, it is just a matter of months before the general public begins to reap the gains of the transformation agenda especially in the health sector.
I believe that those dissipating energy in the grand plot to discourage Jonathan from re-contesting in 2015 should have a rethink because it will not do anybody any good to stop a performing president from continuing his work in all the sectors of the economy especially health.
What the opposition is expected to do is to cooperate with the administration to make sure that the health and other sectors of the economy are on sure footings. The culture of fault-finding in every good move made by the administration is not civilized and patriotic.
Written By Abimbola Jones
abimbolajones2013@yahoo.com
