The Federal Government has said it has 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 (rtd) revealed this Thursday in Abuja during the Needs Assessment and Strategic Review Project Kick-off Workshop on Reforming Military Health Services in Nigeria.
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 Magashi, “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.
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.
While commending the resilience and commitment of the service chiefs, the Minister and the service chiefs in conjunction with the Defense Military, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana mni, 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.
It is important for the servicemen to have a health behind them. It increases their confidence that they are serving a nation that cares about them. US
Other partners such as US, UK and WHO the realised, the project will increase the Personnel’s confidence that they are servicing a nation that cares about their well-being.