The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, has urged the Federal Government to increase the budgetary allocation to health and education for better quality of life and production output.
Idris made the call at the biennial "August Event" organised on Wednesday by the Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi Foundation (MAMF) in collaboration with St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event has the theme, "Charting a New Course in Health and Education Sectors".
NAN reports that MAMF was founded in 2000 by the late Moses Majekodunmi,
founder of St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, while the "August Event" is to celebrate Majekodunmi's ideals on healthcare and education.
According to Idris, health and education sectors are the foundation for human development.
"The socio-political and economic development of any society is largely determined by the level of attainment of the nation with other determinants, including the environment, culture and housing.
"All indices point to the fact that the triple burdens of diseases, poor quality of care and persisting rise in chronic and non-communicable diseases have become big challenges.
"It even becomes worse as Nigeria has been ranked as second in high maternal mortality rate and we are behind in meeting our MDG targets.
"It is imperative that there is need for improvement of our health and education sectors for better quality of life and general production output in all spheres of life," he said.
He also said that lack of access, especially financial access to healthcare had affected healthcare delivery.
Also, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, a former Minister of Health, said that the National Health Act, 2014 was not the sole solution to the many challenges facing the health sector.
He said that some of the positive inclusions in the Act were the regulation of tertiary health institutions and organ and kidney transplantation.
In his remarks, the foundation's chairman, Mr Olufemi Majekodunmi, said the August Event played an important role in creating a learning platform where healthcare and education were promoted and supported.
"This event stands for what our father, Dr Moses Majekodunmi, stood for in the healthcare and education sectors and generally adding value to people's lives.
"This collaboration with Majekodunmi Foundation brings to fore St. Nicholas Hospital's corporate social responsibilities in the area of growth and development in the medical field.
"The programme is an initiative geared toward supporting, strengthening and improving lives in the area of health and education," he said.
The Executive Director of Majekodunmi Foundation, Mrs Bolaji Fati, said that since inception in 2012, the foundation had carried out outreaches in places like Epe and Ibeju-Lekki.
She said that such outreaches included teachers' capacity building, educational empowerment programmes for girls and scholarships for underprivileged children from primary to university level. NAN
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