By Sarah Manya
Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Initiative is transforming lives through improved healthcare delivery, the medical director of the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Jalingo, Professor Chubado Tahir, said on Tuesday.
Tahir made the remarks in Jalingo while speaking with journalists on activities marking the 58th birthday of the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, in Taraba State.
He praised President Bola Tinubu’s leadership and said the government’s health reform agenda was being driven by Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Ali Pate and the Minister of State for Health.
“I am optimistic that within the next few years, Nigeria will be completely transformed under the Tinubu administration,” Tahir said, wishing the president good health and a long life.
Tahir also praised a free medical outreach organised by Yilwatda, saying it had provided critical treatment to thousands of vulnerable people who could otherwise not afford medical care.
He said the beneficiaries included elderly patients requiring hip replacements and children with congenital and other deformities who were awaiting surgery.
“Some of these people would not have been able to pay for such surgeries because of their cost, especially those children that have deformities,” Tahir said.
“It would have limited their aspirations, but they are going to be treated free. And after these surgeries, I am sure they are going to achieve all their potential.”
He said the outreach could have a broader impact on society by restoring the health and productivity of beneficiaries.
Tahir thanked Taraba Governor Agbu Kefas for supporting the hospital, including donating an ambulance and a utility vehicle and providing land for its permanent site.
“The state government is doing a lot for us. They are the ones who have us here as temporary and they allocated land for us to build our permanent site. His Excellency Dr. Kefas has been supportive. We remain grateful,” he said.
Tahir described a visit to the hospital by Kefas, Yilwatda, Pate, the Secretary to the Government of the State and the state head of service, among other dignitaries, as unprecedented and a source of encouragement to the hospital’s management and staff.
He also pledged that the hospital would continue to improve service delivery and support the federal government’s health-sector policies under the Renewed Hope Initiative.
Tahir, who was commended by Pate for the hospital’s performance under his leadership as its pioneer medical director, attributed the progress recorded so far to teamwork.
“We remain committed to improving service delivery and ensuring that the policies and programmes of the Renewed Hope Initiative in the health sector are achieved,” he said.
Beneficiaries of the outreach also expressed gratitude to Yilwatda, Tahir and the hospital staff.
One mother who travelled from Takum said her daughter, who had previously received unsuccessful treatment in Kano, was now receiving treatment at the Jalingo hospital.
“This man, the MD, is a nice person. The other doctors and nurses are doing us very well. Me, I no know how to thank them,” she said.
She added that Tahir regularly visited patients and checked on their welfare.