The Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba, on Friday disclosed that the Federal Government has provided free drugs for the indigent patients of the hospital.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo said the drugs were basically for the treatment of hypertension, diabetes and infections.
He explained that the drugs, which had 2028 as the expiring date, were specifically for Nigerians who could not readily pay for their drugs.
According to him, the objective is to enhance access to equitable healthcare.
He emphasised that the drugs were strictly for the in-patient and out-patients, including adults and children who were registered with the hospital.
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“The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, under the leadership of Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has given us some supply of free drugs, specifically for the registered indigent patients of the hospital.
“The drugs are for the treatment of some common diseases like hypertension, diabetes and various forms of infections.
“And based on the number of the drugs, I believe it’s going to cover about 5,000 indigent patients of the hospital.
“This provision is not limited to LUTH alone; I believe that all the 84 federal tertiary hospitals in Nigeria were inclusive, though, not sure if they have all gotten”, said the CMD.
The CMD said the hospital has set up a committee saddled with the responsibility of making the initiative work; which includes identifying the criteria for an indigent patients.
“Similarly, we have devised a means of making it work by setting up a small committee that will see to criteria for identifying indigent patients.
“And the people who are going to be relevant there include the doctors, who prescribe these drugs; the nurses, who are ever present with patients; the department of pharmacy and as well as the department of medical social works”, he explained.
Director of Medical and Social Services, LUTH, Ms Titi Tade described the initiative as a “strategic commitment to promote equitable healthcare.”
Tade said the hospital has devised some criteria for identifying indigent patients including family background, educational history, employment history, psychiatric history and legal issues among others.
“So, there are a lot of criteria involved. And we will look at how they interact to either make a patient indigent or make a patient able to pay for medication.
“For instance, if a person has a mental health condition that does not enable such a person to work, despite that the person has very high qualifications – that may make such person indigent.
“However, there are people that are totally indigent, and there are those that are situational indigent based on the fact that they spent so much money at that point in time on their treatment,” Tade said.
She noted that about 30 to 40 per cent of the hospital’s patients were indigent, who could not afford their medication.
The Director Nursing Services, Mrs Fasilat Akinola, affirmed that quite a good number of patients in the wards were indigent patients, who find it difficult to even feed.
According to her, the gesture will bring a huge relieve on lots of the patients in the wards, who were helpless and have no means to pay for their medication.
NAN
