Downie, addressing post natal attendees at Comprehensive Primary Health Centre, Oke ijebu, Akure
The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, United States of America has promised to champion the replication of Ondo government's success stories in the health sector as a model for international best practices.
Its Deputy Director, African Programme, Richard Downie, who dropped the hint after a tour of some health facilities across the state said Ondo state is a good example of where things are still working form the good of all.
Downie was in Nigeria on Gate's funded grant to understudy the country's health system as well as the US-Nigeria health relationship with a view to identifying possible areas of improvement.
Mr Richard Downie was led by the state commissioner for health, Dr Dayo Adeyanju to inspect some health facilities in the state. The first port of call was the Comprehensive Primary Health Center at Oke Ijebu in Akure where the visitor interacted with the antenatal and post natal attendees, as well as inspected all the facilities including records on maternal and child survival.
The team proceeded to the Ondo State Primary Healthcare Development Board, where the Commissioner alongside the Executive Secretary, Dr Olugbenga Osunmakinwa told him how the office has coordinated with remarkable results primary health care, before visiting, the modern and old cold chain stores, and the performance based financing scheme coordination office.
Next was the mother and child hospital, also in Akure where Mr Downie was taken round the facilities as well as spent some time with an ongoing ante Natal session.
The team later headed for Ondo city briefly attending an ongoing meeting of Agbebiyes and their vanguards led by the Special Assistant to the governor on maternal deaths reduction, Mrs Funmilola Oluwadare.
The final point was the Medical village also in Ondo where Downie could not hold back his breath after seeing facilities like the Trauma and Surrgical Center, University of Medical Sciences, the Kidney Care Center, the Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostic Center as well as the Mother and Child Hospital among others.
Speaking with newsmen after the inspection, Mr Downie was to enable him have a first hand experience of the success stories of Ondo's health system which Governor Olusegun Mimiko shared with them when he visited Washington DC three years ago.
I have heard very good things about the healthcare system here. The state has health on top of his priority politically. We have the privilege of hosting Governor Mimiko three years ago where he told us about the abiye program me, so we are excited to come back and see the progress being made.
He promised to take back the US the imperative of providing the needed support.
"Am very excited with what have seen. I now see that free healthcare is being provided for some of the most needy members of the communities, for mothers and young children. Am impressed that three is system here that allows the health system to work and to function properly.
"So am going to be taking a message back and we will brief the US government of our findings to help us reform US foreign policy. We feel that Nigeria has so many problems, too much waste and corruption. We think that the US spend a lot of money on health programmes in Nigeria without getting any result.
"So we are going to highlight what is working well, to go back and say there are pockets of good practices in Nigeria. Things are working here in Ondo state. We will also think about how we can replicate what we have seen and how we can support them, and also think about what other states can learn from Ondo state on how it's making things work successfully", he said.
Dr adeyanju on his part expressed delight that government health programmes have always received international accolades beyond meeting the needs of the people.
According to him: "For us as state government, this will stimulate us to do lots more. And of course, with the good work that is going on, we are doing everything humanly possible to see how we can ensure the sustainability of of the good works that this present government has done and also helping other states and helping other nations".
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies is a Washington based think thank that advises the US government on foreign policy.
