Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State said his administration would surpass the achievements of his predecessor, Olusegun Mimiko, in the area of quality, accessible and affordable health care in the state.

Mr Akeredolu said in a phone interview with the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Atlanta, U.S. that his administration was doing a lot, continuing from where Mr Mimiko left.

The governor, however, commended his predecessor for his feat in the provision of health care for the people, a feat that won the state international recognition.

He said: “we are doing a lot; we have five cardinal points.

“We had like a contract with the people of Ondo State.

“One of them is for us to make health affordable and accessible and this is what we are trying to do.

“I never run away from the fact that I met on the ground, a commendable health facility; but a few of them have run down, even before we got there.

“So, we needed to up it a bit and make sure that they meet with modern trends or make sure that there are enough equipment and other facilities for use.

“We are trying to improve on this.

“It’s so low in Ondo State because the ‘Mother and Child’ took care of a number of issues there when my predecessor was in office.

“So, we want to get even higher than what he did; we have facilities, but what we’re trying to do is to get it better’’.

Mr Akeredolu disclosed that the state’s health insurance scheme was ready for take-off in August, adding that, the enabling law had been passed by the House of Assembly after a long period.

He also said that he has given approval for the facilities to be used by the Health Insurance Scheme, explaining that the UN Children’s Fund would participate in the scheme.

“UNICEF took some of our legislators and a few others, sponsored them to Delta to study how it (health insurance scheme) is being run.

“So the law has just been passed; one cannot say its effect now until we start by next month.

“I’m sure everything would be ready for us to commence the insurance scheme in the state,’’ the governor told NAN.

He said while in the U.S., he also visited the Sickle Cell Foundation and had fruitful discussions with them on how they could assist Ondo state.

“They have a big foundation, with which they can assist and they had given promises and we are going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to get them to Ondo state to do a lot of things,’’ he said.

Mr Akeredolu said he contacted some Ondo State indigenes and they had shown interest in coming back home to support the administration.

“A few of them I spoke with also believed that they could raise funds to sponsor one or two containers of new medical equipment for the state.’’

(NAN)