Ogun shut down 186 illegal health facilities, warns erring operators

The Ogun State government on Monday said it has shut down 186 illegal health facilities in the State in the last one year over allegations of quackery and sharp practices.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, who spoke in to journalists in Abeokuta, stated that the move was made to curtail the intemperance activities of quackery, which according to him was increasing.

He said those being nabbed by the monitoring team of the Ministry for either operating with fake certificates, invalidation of licenses or engaging in health facilities without government authorization had been charged to court by the state Ministry of Justice.

Ipaye emphasized that the State would not condone any illegal health activity, as the State had contributed immeasurably to the health sector in the State, noting that whosoever engaged in illegitimate act and nabbed would not go scot free. His words, “The state government will not fold its arms for anybody to operate illegal health facilities in the state, those who intend to do so or has been doing that should henceforth desist from it or ready to face the full wrath of the law”. Ipaye said it was imperative for health facilities owners in the state to revalidate their license, as the inspection teams of the Ministry would soon out for thorough inspection of their facilities and if anyone caught with fake certificate or expired license would be dealt with accordingly.

He noted that the State government must ensure proper protection and safeguarding its citizens against untimely death of those illegal health facilitators, emphasizing that those quack Doctors and Nurses in the state contributes no small measures to the sudden death of masses including the pregnant women in the society. The Commissioner also disclosed that the introduction of Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS), “Araya” was for the government to pay for the bill of the less privilege masses, including pregnant women and children under five years in the state in order to benefit from primary health care service delivery of the state government.

He noted that over 16,000 residents had keyed into the programme across the state, while the targeting numbers of pregnant women and children under five was about 40 thousand, enjoining the residents to continue registering into the programme in their respective maternity centres across the 20 Local government and 37 Local Council Development Areas nearest to them in the State.

“The Araya programme is a continue progresses for the less privilege people, pregnant women and children age under 5 in the state, all what you need to do, is to just walk in to the Primary Health Centres nearest to you and register, once you have registered and collect the card, then you are entitled to free health care delivery”, Ipaye said.