The Lagos State Government will soon establish a medical university to boost the training of health professionals and address the problem of brain drain in the health sector.
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-olu disclosed this at the inauguration of the Femi Gbajabiamila General Hospital on Tuesday in Surulere, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 80-bed facility was facilitated by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila.
The governor said the university would be established before the end of 2024, in collaboration with the Federal Government.
“This is an opportunity to announce another bold initiative that we would be pursuing in the course of this year.
“This is strategic for us. This is a strategic intervention for us. Why are we setting up a health or a medical university? It is to solve two problems .
“We found out that working with the Federal Ministry of Health, we need to scale up very aggressively all of our training and all of the youths to be trained in everything within our health space.
“We cannot sit back and fold our arms as a government that cannot intervene. And so we will, as a state, hoping that other states will take this initiative and set up similar universities to be able to scale up and have between 1,000 and 1,500 doctors graduating every year.
“And this will also stem, in our view, the trend of medical personnel leaving our country.
“We are not going to stop at ensuring that we provide the best facilities to be able to retain our best talents here,” he said.
The governor commended Gbajabiamila for facilitating and handing over the secondary heath facility to the state government, saying the hospital would improve access to healthcare.
Speaking at the inauguration, Gbajabiamila said the hospital was one of the many projects he had facilitated in Surulere and other parts of the state.
“The Femi Gbajabiamila General Hospital was conceived from the knowledge that a populous and growing metropolis such as Lagos cannot afford to be found wanting as far as access to quality health care is concerned.
‘This structure is an addition to the support the tremendous work the Lagos State Government is doing in the area of healthcare,” he said.
He said the facility, which was formerly a Primary Health Centre, was equipped with a dialysis centre, CT scan, alternative power and many more for the benefit of the people of Surulere.
He thanked the people of Surulere for their consistent support, promising to continue to do his best to impact lives in the area.
“I thank you for the support you have given me for over 25 years. I do not take it for granted and I will continue to do my best to impact lives,” he said.
Speaking, Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Health, thanked Gbajabiamila for delivering the project .
He said he had no doubt that the facility would bring healthcare closer to the people .