By Our Correspondent
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has given marching order for the completion of the 300-bed ultra-modern hospital initiated by former Governor of the State Namadi Sambo in 2009.
The Commissioner for Health in the State, Hajiya Umma Ahmed gave the hint on Wednesday during a one-day high-level stakeholders’ engagement meeting organized by the Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM) with support from Evidence for Action (E 4 A Mamaye.)
She said most of the projects in Kaduna State have reached about 70 percent completion, and “the governor has given timeline for them to be completed before the year runs out”.
The Commissioner reiterated that the state government is not only focusing on building physical structures but also looking at improving the welfare package of every health worker in the state by giving them the enabling environment to discharge their duty effectively as the best approach to tackle the menace of brain drain that is ravaging the health sector.
“The present administration, through its sustained agenda, placed priority in the area of health, most especially human capital development and this is the reason why in the 100 days in office of Governor Uba Sani he approved the implementation of the doctor’s increments because it was observed that most of them are not comfortable with the remuneration compare to other states.
“We are all aware that the brain drain is caused by poor remuneration and increasing their remuneration will motivate them because most of them are patriotic citizens who want to work for their state and I am sure that with this improvement they will be encouraged to stay and prospective ones too will want to work with the state.
“Not only their area of remuneration but all encompasses, making sure that all health workers are comfortable and have a conducive learning environment so that other places will not attract them out of the state. We will continue to work hard and identify challenges and address them.
She said the government is “looking at commissioning that hospital this year by the Grace of God because most of the projects have reached 70-80% completion and we have been assured because the governor has given us the marching order that he wants the hospital to be completed this year and he gave a timeline and we are working towards that and it will be commissioned before the end of the year.
The Co-Chairman, KADMAM, Mr. Isah Gidado remarked that the event was basically to use the 2023 budget performance presentation as an evidence for cash backing advocacy and also to solicit government stakeholders commitment to ensuring releases and cash backing of the 2024 heath sector budget.
Isah said, “15% of the annual budget was given to the health sector last year and 2024 respectively. At least we want the performance of this year to be better than last year’s.
On her part, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kaduna State, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar Sadiq, noted that the event has identified some gaps, particularly in the area of cash backing saying, government and other stakeholders will sit and find a way to limit the delays they encounter when trying to access funds for their interventions.
