The House of Representatives Committee on Specialty Healthcare has called for partnerships to enhance specialised healthcare delivery in Nigeria. At a stakeholders’ roundtable in Abuja, the committee’s chairman, Rep. Alex Egbona, identified key areas for collaboration, including mental health, trauma care, obstetric fistula treatment, oral health, blood transfusion, and alternative medicine.
Egbona noted that specialised healthcare providers face challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of essential medical equipment, poor electricity supply, and insufficient funding. He emphasised that referral hospitals for specialised emergencies receive the least budgetary allocation in the health sector.
The committee convened the roundtable to review a Draft Legislative Activity Implementation Framework, with expected outcomes including a strengthened legal framework, improved digital healthcare access, and better mental health services. Stakeholders such as Christian Blind Mission’s Michael Idah and Rev. Fr. Sebastian Sani of JDPC stressed the need to prioritise healthcare for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Dr. Jackie Ikeotuonye from the FCT Association of Integrative Medicine Practitioners called for a regulatory council to oversee alternative medicine, warning against unregulated herbal treatments. The committee has given stakeholders ten days to review the framework and submit recommendations for implementation.
