The Katsina State Government spent N3.77 billion between June 2023 and April 2024 to enhance healthcare services in the state, Governor Dikko Radda has said.

Mr Radda spoke at the opening of the maiden State Council on Health meeting on Monday in Katsina.

The council meeting has the theme, “Building Resilient Health System in Katsina State: Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions”.

“In our humble effort to fulfil the covenant with the people of Katsina State, we have strategically increased our fund’s releases to the health sector by 800 per cent, amounting to N3.77 billion between June 2023 and April 2924,” Radda said.

He said that within the first year of the government, the modest achievements in human capital development included approving the commencement of residency training for family medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology and paediatrics.

The governor said the administration had approved the upgrade and full implementation of the new residency training allowance for medical doctors in the state.

He said the government had awarded foreign scholarships to students who attended public secondary schools in the state to study medicine.

Mr Radda said the government had released N112.5 million for 546 medical students as allowances for 2023, both at home and abroad.

He also said the government had secured ten containers of medical supplies worth $10 million from the World Medical Relief Headquarters.

“The equipment, including MRI equipment and CT Scans, is being shipped to Nigeria and will be onshore very soon,” the governor said.

He said the government provided free medicare and consumables worth over N120 million to pregnant women and accident victims, among others.

Mr Radda said his administration constructed a soon-to-be inaugurated 16-bed capacity state-of-art dialysis centre at the Gen. Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital, Katsina.

He also said the government released N599.9 million for the upgrade of Faskari Comprehensive Health Centre to general hospital status.

“Over N700 million was also released for the completion of Kafur General Hospital,” Radda said.

He said the government distributed 198 motorcycles for routine immunisation officers and ward focal persons in collaboration with GAVI and UNICEF.

The governor said N140.7 million was released for the second and third quarters 2023 as Direct Facility Funding to 156 Primary Health Care facilities.

He said the government paid a counterpart fund amounting to over N200 million to UNICEF for the management of acute malnutrition.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Bashir Gambo, said the meeting was aimed at improving coordination by harmonising health policies and programmes across the different levels of government and aligning them with the national health agenda.

Mr Gambo said the second segment of the meeting would be dedicated to the discussion of over 50 memoranda received from departments, agencies and associations.

Culled from Premium Times Nigeria