By Adi Angyu
The Bauchi state Government will soon embark on construction and renovation of healthcare centers across the state, Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar said.
He said the renovated health centres will reduce maternal and infant mortality rate and improve accessibility and affordability of effective health care service to the people, in line with the campaign promise of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Governor was speaking when he received the Bauchi Emirate Council members led by Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu, who paid a traditional Sallah homage.
He observed that no health system can function well without an effective and competent workforce, stressing that the era of governments providing everything to the people is over because of the dwindling income accruable to governments resulting from fall in oil prices in the international market.
While lamenting the poor state of the nation’s economy and the hardship being experienced by the people, the Governor Abubakar emphasized the need for all hands to be on deck, stressing that “government still requires the collaborative efforts of well-meaning friends and partners to function”.
He added government has worked out programmes that would improve the health sector, first by allocating 16 per cent of the 2016 budgetary allocation and putting in place measures that will address the numerous challenges facing the health sector.
“My administration has galvanized action through the ‘5 Point Health Agenda’ and for the first time in the history of the State the health sector has been strengthened with budgetary allocation of 16% of the total State 2016 budget,” he said.
Abubakar explained that past administrations in the state have under the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs), constructed many health institutions, but lamented that most of such institutions were not up to standard and some were allowed collapse due to lack maintenance.
He noted that within the limited resources available to government, his administration has already embarked on massive rehabilitation of such institutions and facilitated the accreditation of the State College of Nursing and Midwifery, which is being concluded, in order to fast tract the provision of a platform for health workers to be
trained and retrained.
