FG Seeks Collective Efforts To Promote Health In Nigeria

The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, has called for collective efforts to promote health in the country.

The permanent secretary called on Tuesday at the maiden Health Promotion Commemoration Day, themed: “Health Promotion: A Catalyst for Sustainable Health and Well-being of Nigerians” in Abuja.

She emphasised the relevance of health promotion across sectors and disciplines, adding that it becomes effective when it combines and builds on mutual understandings of each stakeholder’s realm of expertise through a multisectoral approach.

Represented by the director of food and drug services at the ministry, Pharm Olubunmi Aribeana, the permanent secretary said that the Health Promotion Commemoration Day was a means of ensuring yearly reflections on achieving our collective health action through health promotion.

“Therefore, we all need to join hands to promote health amongst our people.

“For health promotion to succeed as an effective tool for achieving well-being for all Nigerians, it is important to secure the buy-in of all key stakeholders, including Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of governments at all levels,” she stressed.

In his remarks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative in Nigeria, Dr Walter Mulombo, said the programme’s theme was well aligned with World Health Assembly resolution 76.7, which member states, including Nigeria, adopted in May last year, 2023.

He said this resolution adopted the global framework for integrating well-being into public health, utilising a health promotion approach.

“Health promotion enables people to increase control over their health.

“It covers a wide range of social and environmental interventions designed to benefit and protect individual people’s health and quality of life by addressing and preventing the root causes of ill health, not just focusing on treatment and cure, he said.

He expressed WHO’s commitment to supporting the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and State Ministries of Health in implementing health promotion interventions that empower people and communities to make healthy choices and live healthy lifestyles.