ABUJA – The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday urged the National Council on Health to work out modalities to ensure effective disease control in the country.
Chukwu made the call when he addressed delegates at the 57th Pre-National Council on Health meeting in Abuja.
He said that the issue of cholera outbreak needed to be addressed by the council urgently as the rainy season sets in.
“Cholera outbreak needs to be looked into more critically and be addressed; it is a disease that spread, and we are all aware of previous incidence that happened in some states.
“We also need to look at where we are in terms of polio eradication, haemorrhagic fevers and the achievement of universal health coverage,’’ he said.
He said the aim of the meeting was to review progress achieved since the 56th meeting held in 2013 in Lagos.
The minister also said that pertinent issues would be discussed to set the stage for the main meeting coming up soon.
Chukwu said that the meeting was an opportunity for both the federal and states ministries of health to discuss extensively issues affecting the sector.
In a speech, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan, said that over the years, the health sector had suffered a lot of set back as a result of uncoordinated nature of the system.
He said the National Strategic Health Development Plan set up in 2010 had given a direction for the sector to operate in an orderly manner
Alhassan expressed the optimism that participants in the meeting would make recommendations that would promote the growth of the sector.
Also speaking, Dr Mohammed Kawuwa, the Commissioner for Health in Yobe, said the state had taken steps to set up preventive measures for haemorrhagic fevers.
He said the government was doing its best to improve the health care system in the state, adding that insurgency had been a challenge.
Sixty delegates from the 36 states of the federation are attending the meeting. (NAN)
