Medical expert urges increased health budget as resident doctors conduct free surgeries in Kwara
By Mahmood Olayinka Alaya
A medical expert and member of the West African College of Surgeons, Dr. Mariam Motunrayo Shiru, has called on governments at all levels to significantly increase budgetary allocation to the health sector to address Nigeria’s growing healthcare challenges.
Dr. Shiru lamented that the current 4% to 5% allocation for health consistently falls short of the 15% benchmark recommended in the Abuja Declaration, signed by African Union countries in 2001 to improve healthcare funding.
She made the call in Ilorin on Saturday during a surgical phase of a medical outreach organized by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), in collaboration with the Threshold of Hope Foundation and Kwara State Commissioner for Business, Innovation and Technology, Mrs. Damilola Yusuf Adelodun.
Speaking to journalists, Dr. Shiru, who is also the first female president of ARD UITH, emphasized the urgent need to upgrade rural health centers across the country.
She advocated for improved infrastructure, availability of essential drugs, and basic amenities to ensure quality healthcare delivery in underserved communities.
As part of the outreach, Dr. Shiru said a free medical consultation was held on June 25th in Owu Isin, Isin Local Government Area, where patients were screened and treated for various ailments, while those requiring surgery were referred to Ilorin for the second phase of the programme due to poor facilities at the local health centre.
“Initially, 15 patients were identified for surgeries, but only 11 could make it. The local health centre in Owu Isin lacked the standard equipment and environment for safe surgical procedures, so we had to bring them to Ilorin,” Dr. Shiru explained.
She noted that the surgeries, which include treatment for cataracts, hernias, and lipomas, are part of the association’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts in collaboration with NGOs and philanthropic individuals.
Also speaking, the Vice President of ARD UITH and a Senior Registrar in the Department of Behavioural Sciences, Dr. Monsur Olalekan Awodun, who said the outreach was brought to the sponsor’s hometown in Owu Iain to give back to the community, revealed that many residents were treated for common ailments such as hypertension and diabetes, while seven patients underwent cataract surgeries, and ten others were treated for hernias and lipomas.
On his part, Dr. Adepoju Olusegun, a Resident in General Surgery at UITH, said the outreach is one of several efforts by resident doctors in partnership with philanthropists to support healthcare delivery in rural communities.
“Most of the beneficiaries are farmers who cannot afford quality healthcare. Today, we scheduled nine surgeries, and two patients are undergoing multiple procedures,” he noted.
A beneficiary’s wife, Mrs. Kehinde Oladebo, expressed gratitude on behalf of her family.
She shared that her husband, Mr. Sikiru Emmanuel Oladebo, had suffered from a hernia for over five years but finally received the needed surgical intervention through the outreach.
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