Ogun State Government says plans are underway to boost human capital development in the health sector in 2024 and 2025, towards ensuring that the health of all residents is guaranteed. 

 Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, made this known during the official dissemination meeting of the 2024 Annual Operational Plan (AOP) for the Health Sector in Abeokuta, emphasised the need for continual training of healthcare practitioners across the State towards providing qualitative and accessible care for all residents of the State.

Coker said the AOP for the year 2024 would build on the gains of the past years and continue to streamline healthcare services and enhance operational efficiency in the sector as a significant pillar in the State's development agenda.  

The commissioner who stressed that the 2024 AOP aligns with the Revised Second National Strategic Health Development Plan (2023-2025), which is designed to support the people-oriented Renewed Hope Vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, called on the heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), programme officers, development partners, and other stakeholders to prioritize and implement activities in the strategic document.        

 “We have come a long way to develop this AOP and disseminate it to all stakeholders. A validation exercise that involved them in the various MDAs under the health sector, development partners, and the private sector was also organised. Through this workshop and meeting, 100 interventions and 688 operational activities were collectively developed in the plan to address identified challenges.

“I want us all as stakeholders to work towards ensuring that our State doesn’t work in isolation. We must align our activities with the federal government as enshrined in the four-point mission of the Minister of Health. Whatever we are able to achieve at our level will count at the federal level in terms of improvement in the country’s health indices”, she said. 

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Kayode Oladehinde, expressed gratitude to the development partners for their continued support, emphasizing the alignment of health agencies and relevant stakeholders with the ministry's vision and objectives for 2024.

In his goodwill message, the South-West Zonal Coordinator of World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Ayodeji Isiaka, lauded the Ogun State government for consistently planning the activities of the health sector ahead of time, calling on the stakeholders to align their programmes with the six-point agenda of the WHO for the country.

On his part, the representative of the Civil Society Network on Malaria Immunisation and Nutrition, Mr. Tayo Akinpelu, assured the Ministry of his organisation's support in ensuring that communities have access to Malaria, HIV, and TB services at the grassroots.