HMOs have failed Nigerians – Rep Usman
Rep Muhammad Usman, is the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services. In this interview, he spoke on the investigation on Health Management Organisations (HMOs ) among other.
number of states. It's a really challenging situation.
What did your committee discover on meningitis having sat with all the stakeholders on the matter?
Based on the discussion we had with relevant agencies, this sort of virus that caused the meningitis was a new one and the vaccines were not available. We had to rely on support here and there, but that is not an excuse. There were signs that something bad was going to happen, but the ministry and the agencies responsible didn't do what they were supposed to do.
In Nigeria, part of our problem is that we don't take proactive measures to prevent things like that from happening.
You are from a constituency that has serious health challenges, what are you doing about that?
The moment I got this position, addressing the challenges became a priority. I knew that in Makarfi/Kudan, health has been a major challenge. That was why I had to use virtually 100 percent of my constituency projects on health. That was why I decided to construct two Primary Health Centres in areas where they are lacking. For instance, at Unguwar Waziri of Garu Ward, which is a town of thousands of people, but they didn't have any functional PHC. That is in Kudan.
In Makarfi, I chose a town in Gwanki Ward, that was Kunkumi and constructed another PHC, which is almost completed.
God willing, in the next two years, my constituents will see more of that. In fact, even in the 2017 budget, about 80 percent of my constituency projects will go to health.