The Federal Government said it had commenced the process of building a World Class Military Hospital likened to Walter Reed Military Hospital in the USA to manage it’s personnel, their families and Nigerians in general.
The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi (retd) disclosed this during the Needs Assessment and Strategic Review Project Kick-off Workshop on Reforming Military Health Services in Nigeria held in Abuja on Thursday.
Magashi said the State-of-the-art Military Hospital will serve personnel, veterans, their families while also providing Nigerians with quality and affordable healthcare services.
According to him, “My vision is to put in place mechanisms that will lead to the establishment of a World Class Military Hospital akin to Walter Reed Military Hospital in the USA that will successfully manage officers and soldiers injured in battle as well as provide serving personnel, veterans, their families and indeed Nigerians quality healthcare services.
“I am soliciting for your support to set this noble project in motion even though I know accomplishing this during our time in the Ministry may be difficult but we look forward to be beneficiaries of this noble venture in the nearest future. We therefore need a coordinated and unified Armed Forces Healthcare delivery system to tackle our enormous challenges.
He said as obtainable in other parts of the world, the new Ministry of Defence “will have a mix of military and civilian personnel working together in an integrated manner to provide multi-disciplinary advice and expertise for an effective management of the Ministry by the minister of defence”.
According to the Minister, the ministry decided to implement the reform in piece meal after receiving approval from President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “An important component of the reform is the Armed Forces Healthcare delivery system. Under my leadership, the Ministry has resolved to review the Armed Forces Health System, identify gaps and reposition it to better serve Military personnel, veterans and their families as well as the general public.
“My vision is to put in place mechanisms that will lead to the establishment of a World Class Military Hospital akin to Walter Reed Military Hospital in the USA that will successfully manage officers and soldiers injured in battle as well as provide serving personnel, veterans, their families and indeed Nigerians quality healthcare services.
The Minister expressed hope that the process would come up with patriotic and articulated recommendations for the Ministry and services consideration.
He said the need assessment became necessary owing to the need to upgrade the health facilities, recruit more personnel and boost the moral of those who are already serving.
“This workshop is coming at a time when we are witnessing a suboptimal performance of the Armed Forces Health System. The Armed Forces Health System is bedeviled with numerous challenges necessitating the need to engage a Consultant to carry out a Comprehensive Needs Assessment of the Armed Forces Health System.
“The essence is to review the state of our facilities, dearth in medical personnel, inadequate equipment and parallel health care delivery services with a view to upgrading our facilities, recruiting more personnel and to boost the morale of our Armed Forces and civilians alike,” Magashi said.
Earlier, while giving a comprehensive plan on the Armed Forces health care review, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Ibrahim Kana said the essence of the workshop was to focus on how to address the gaps in the medical services for the Armed forces to make them more effective.
He added that the hospital will provide an opportunity for disease surveillance and support National health which he said is always threatened once health workers embark on strike.
He disclosed that over 70 percent of the Armed Forces hospital patients in the country are civilians stressing that the standard of health care services of personnel needs upgrading irrespective of the Military service arms.
“We must review the armed forces to be like the American Armed forces and improve medical services delivery to personnel and their dependents, as well as deploy discipline in the command structure of the armed forces”,Kana added.
While commending the resilience and commitment of the service chiefs, the Minister and the service chiefs in conjunction with the Defense Ministry, the Permanent Secretary, said land needed for the project in the Federal Capital Territory has been acquired.
“To show commitment to this laudable project, Chief of Defense Staff has acquired 160 hectares of land for health facilities.
“Studies have shown that the Military Health facilities already existing serve 85 per cent of civilians. When this project is completed, not only will it be useful to the Military Personnel alone, with will be accessible and useful to the health needs of the general public,” the Permanent Secretary said.
He said as obtainable in other parts of the world, the new Ministry of Defence “will have a mix of military and civilian personnel working together in an integrated manner to provide multi-disciplinary advice and expertise for an effective management of the Ministry by the minister of defence”.
In his remarks, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor who lauded the initiative, revealed that the Defence Headquarters has secured 100 hectares of land from the Federal Capital Territory Administration for the proposed health care facility, adding that the benefits would not just be for the Armed Forces but also the civilians.
The representative of the managing partner on the Needs Assessment and Strategic Project Review and Reform of the Military Health Services in Nigeria, Dr. Folabi Ogunlesi said the indigenous consulting firm founded 15 years ago, was ready to assist the Armed Forces make the project a reality.
The workshop which took place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja was attended by foreign partners including the representatives of the US Embassy, World Bank, WHO UK Foreign Office and Service Chiefs of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
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