The Lagos State Government says that budgetary allocation for the health sector is expected to grow to 13.5 per cent over the next three years.
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said this during the presentation of the 2021 Appropriation Budget at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ikeja on Tuesday.
Sanwo-Olu said that the health budget would increase as the state government would engage in the construction of new hospitals and the renovation of existing ones.
He said that in 2020, the health sector had a budgetary allocation of N97 billion, with N25 billion earmarked for the construction, refurbishment and equipping of the Health Care Centres across the state to achieve fit-for-purpose healthcare centres.
According to him, in tackling the pandemic, the government committed additionally, a major chunk of the N20 billion COVID-19 intervention fund to the health sector.
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“I can confidently say that for us in Lagos State, the pandemic has led to significant improvements in our health care facilities and systems.
“We expect the health allocation to grow from 12.4 per cent to 13.5 per cent over the next three years, especially as we construct more health facilities and renovate existing ones.
“Quality healthcare remains an important thrust of our administration’s agenda. We are cognizant of the fact that healthy people build healthy economies.
“We, therefore, prioritise preventive healthcare while we optimise the supply and the demand aspects of our healthcare services,´´ he said.
The governor said that in 2019, Lagos State had the highest subnational health spend, even before the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that the state government had completed the equipping and furnishing of the 18 Maternal and Child Center at Badagry and Epe, and presently rehabilitating the General Hospitals at Isolo, Ebute-Metta and Harvey Road.
Sanwo-Olu said that the government would before the end of the year be constructing the New Massey Children’s Hospital, which when completed would be the largest Children’s’ Hospital in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa.
“In addition to this, we will also be flagging off the construction of the Ojo General Hospital, as well as the construction of a state-of-the-art Psychiatric Hospital at Ketu-Ejirin,
“We are also equally committed to building the Lagos State Infectious Disease Research Centre, which will be our response to strengthening our infectious disease research and development capabilities.
“We have also increased to 205 the number of empanelled health facilities under the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) to provide health services under the State Insurance Health Scheme.
“In addition, we recruited 760 health workers to boost service delivery in the health sector.
“We are duty-bound to ensure that when Lagosians walk into any government-owned health facility, the quality of care they get is comparable to what is obtainable in any standard hospital in developed countries,´´ he said.