Kano State Government says it has allocated N9.7 billion representing 13 percent of its 2018 budget to the health sub-sector as part of deliberate attempts to improve quality healthcare services in the state.
Governor Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje stated this in a video teleconference for the 2017 health programme year, which set out to revise the goals and objectives as well as corresponding progress made since the commencement of the government’s tripartite agreement on health with Dangote Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
Ganduje said the N9.7 billion allocated to the health sector was for infrastructural development and promotion of preventive healthcare along with curative intervention, in collaboration with development partners.
“The government aims to strengthen the control of HIV/AIDs and Tuberculosis, Polio eradication, Malaria control, cholera, measles control and other child killer diseases in collaboration with development partners,” he said.
Governor Ganduje stated that two specialist hospitals at Giginyu and Zoo road had been equipped with modern facilities in 2017, while attention would be focused on procurement of specialized medical equipment and upgrading of primary health centers this year.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, chairman, Dangote Foundation, commended the state government on the progress made so far especially on the continued commitment to the 100 percent funding for routine
immunization program.
He said: “Kano state government should do more in the areas of community engagement work, generating demand for immunisation and primary healthcare, and improved transparency and inclusion of partners/technical working groups in all procurement processes.”
In his remarks, Mr. Bill Gates, co-chairman, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stressed the importance of data quality, urging the Ganduje administration to step up its efforts towards strengthening broader primary health care services.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, advised the State Ministry of Health and its agencies to consider prioritization of some selected local government areas before scaling up other community based health interventions, especially leveraging on the modern technology.
