By LILIAN U. OKORO

Mr Joe Igbokwe, an All Progressives Congress chieftain in Lagos State, has unveiled a health facility in the state, urging Nigerians to prioritise their health by going for regular medical checkups.

Igbokwe, popularly known as ?Agbalanze? gave the advice at the unveiling of the ?CareValue Health? a state of the art health facility, built by a Nigerian from the diaspora, on Saturday in Lagos.

He said that people should endeavour to be engaging in keep fit activities like road walks and other exercises, as they go a long way in enhancing wellbeing.

Igbokwe, who admitted the high cost of healthcare service in Nigeria; as many people could no longer afford it, advised that governments should intensify efforts to subsidise it.

According to him, there is need to strengthen the health insurance scheme to make it more accessible, saying that it will help to relieve many of the burden of high cost of drugs and other healthcare services.

He lauded the Lagos state government for its functional health insurance scheme, saying that other states should emulate such gesture to relieve citizens the burden of healthcare costs.

?Healthcare service is a big issue in Nigeria but I hope we will get there someday.

?In view of the economic situation, many, particularly the poor can no longer afford healthcare.

?But if governments will take further steps to strengthen health insurance schemes, it will help to make healthcare services more accessible and affordable.

?Similarly, people can take advantage of the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme; which I believe, made provisions for some categories of people, including pregnant women.

?Let people learn to prioritise their health, if you notice any sign; do not ignore it, run to the hospital for checkup,? he said.

Speaking about the new health facility, Igbokwe described it as ?an investment and the right way to go? lauding the founder for the initiative.

He said the founder had studied in the United States, where he learnt the skills and decided to return home to establish the hospital to give back to his country.

?This kind of investment is worthy of emulation; when you travel outside the country or even to any place, do well to learn good things of the place and go back home to invest.

?That is exactly what the founder has done; he studied and practiced in U.S and has decided to come home to invest,? he said.

The founder and Chief Executive Officer, CareValue Health, Dr Anderson Obi, said the initiative was as a result of his passion for humanitarian services and love for Nigeria.

Obi said that many Nigerian doctors have left the country and still leaving to practice abroad, as many citizens also travelled abroad to get quality healthcare services.

He explained that the hospital would be working in collaboration with a Health Management Organisation (HMO) to bridge the gap in terms of finances to make the hospital?s services affordable.

?It has been a long initiative that started in 2010 when I was studying in the U.S.

?Unfortunately, many health practitioners, particularly doctors have left the country and are still leaving to practice abroad.

?And as more doctors leave, we have less doctors everyday taking care of a lot more people.

?So, the goal is to bring something that will have the doctors stay here to take care of the people, while working in collaboration with international doctors to offer quality and affordable healthcare services,? Obi said. (NAN)

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