Mimiko, Health Minister Ali Pate, Others Honoured By Doctors

Former Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko was on Tuesday honoured by the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN), as part of its 50th Anniversary and 40th General and Scientific Conference, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The Minister of Health Professor Mohammad Ali Pate and Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr Salma Ibrahim Anas were also honoured along side Mimiko who was represented by his former Chief of Staff, Dr Kola Ademujimi.

In a summarised citation, Mimiko was celebrated as the man who put Ondo State on global map and reckoning through his unparalleled achievements in infant and maternal health and the reversal of the negative figures in both while in office.

The Special Adviser to the President on Health had in her remarks lamented the state of health in Ondo State after the Mimiko era saying that while Mimiko achieved the SDG goal in infant and maternal death reduction, the State has since slipped into the lowest rung of the ladder making her rank among the worst in national infant and maternal mortality figures.

“I am sad to mention that once upon a time, Ondo State used to be on top of the agenda. In fact, we use to acknowledge that and be proud of Ondo, that they have achieved the MDGs in those days. That was before the launch of the SDGs.

“Unfortunately, everything has collapsed. And I was looking at the …survey yesterday and I found that Ondo State today is the worst in terms of maternal deaths, in terms of women, pregnant women, accessing antenatal care, in terms of women being delivered by skilled birth attendants and even in terms of the uptake of contraceptive commodities. “They have come to the bottom…” she said.

The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olayide Adelami had in a speech he presented on behalf of Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa made commitments towards building on the health infrastructure in the state and improving on all the indices of development.

“We are undertaking structural and infrastructural upgrades of our health facilities. For example, the construction of 500 bedded wards in the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), the construction and renovation of many health facilities and replacement of obsolete medical equipment with ultra-modern down-to-the-earth equipment, across all levels of care,” Ayedatiwa in the statement said.