Dr. Labaran, Kano state Commissioner of Health

By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano

The Kano State Commissioner of Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, has x-rayed how the state Governor,  Abba Kabir Yusuf, is revamping the health sector, insisting that the Governor is on course in fulfilling his campaign promises on the healthcare system.

The Commissioner reeled out some modest achievements in the health sector, during an interview with journalists.

According to him,” revamping the healthcare system of the state is one of the cardinal objectives of Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf; hence he didn’t hesitate, upon coming on board, to take drastic steps to correcting the abnormalities.”

Dr Labaran said that ‘the health-loving amiable Governor has fulfilled some of the promises, while others are on the verge of fulfilment.

“His Excellency has pledged free maternity services to women of the state. This promise has been fulfilled as recently, I distributed drugs and other medical consumables worth N53 million to various health facilities for the benefit of pregnant women and those going to deliver through assisted delivery.

“I am very much sure His Excellency will continue to give free health commodities as he promised throughout his tenure.”

Dr Labaran further stated that “during his campaign, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has pledged to bring back Hasiya Bayero Pediatric Hospital which is the only pediatric hospital in the state with 86-bed capacity, attending to at least 3,000 to 5,000 patients daily. I am elatedly informing people that the promise has been fulfilled as the facility has been retaken and put to use.

“Dishearteningly, the hospital was sold by the previous administration to a crony at the worthless rate of N6 million, while its actual price is more than N6 billion. His Excellency, during his campaign, has vowed to take the facility from whoever it was sold to and return it to the people of the state.

“Our Governor had visited the hospital within 48 hours of his swearing-in and went round everywhere. He directed the Ministry of Health and its counterpart of Works to start work in the facility.

“As I am talking to you, that hospital was re-commissioned and put to use. If you go there, you will see that it has been renewed; all its aspects have been taken care of.”

On the medical outreach programme, Dr. Labaran stated, “His Excellency has directed the Ministry of Health to go to the hard-to-reach areas where people are deprived of healthcare services.

“We are planning for that, and we will make sure that the people are treated and given free consultations on minor ailments, while they will be referred to first hospitals for bigger diseases that require strong medical attention.

“I am pleased to inform the good people of the state that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has approved the reconstitution of that committee. By the grace of Allah, very shortly the medical outreach services will be brought back. I am very much sure His Excellency will inaugurate the committee very soon.”

He added that “when the present administration came on board, it found out that the number of doctors, nurses and other health personnel are grossly inadequate. I will happily say that this Ministry was directed to assess the manpower need in the state and convey to His Excellency and the government will do the needful in terms of human resources for health.”

Dr Labaran explained that “His Excellency has promised to build one primary health centre in each political ward of the state. We are assessing all health facilities of the state to see their immediate needs and present them to the Governor. The areas where primary healthcare centres are earnestly needed, we are identifying them.”

According to him, “Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has vowed to bring back the fight against the childhood killer diseases. It is unfortunate that after COVID-19, the routine immunization, aspect of health services have been neglected so much that Kano has become the state with the highest number of zero doses of immunization in the whole country!

“This is the reason why we have the upsurge of diphtheria. Kano is the worst hit of the disease as 80% of total diphtheria cases are in the state.

“This is one of the reasons why His Excellency promised the rebirth of the routine immunization. We have started that, and I believe it will continue throughout the tenure of our administration.”

Dr. Labaran said,” We are on the verge of accomplishing the pledge made by His Excellency of building secondary hospitals in each Local Government Area of the state. We are assessing Local Government Areas with no secondary health facility to submit the report to the Governor for necessary action.

“Another vital promise on health His Excellency is fulfilling is to make our hospitals wear a good look. We have started with Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, the largest public hospital in West Africa. We are renovating the accident and emergency unit of the facility. After that, we will continue with other parts of the facility and move to other hospitals.”

The Commissioner commended the giant strides of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for bringing sanity to the health educational institutions of the state as promised.

He, however, noted with dismay that, “there were lots of abnormalities and other unethical happenings in the schools discovered by the government and henceforth drastic measures have been taken on one of the schools to bring back the lost glory of the institution.

“The schools will go back to normal operations. From this time, there is no more admission racketeering, no more abnormalities and no more over-admission.

“We also found out that the accreditations of the schools had expired or are about to and His Excellency has given us approval to fund all the activities and accreditations of these institutions.

“On this note, I would like to enjoin the people of the state to continue to identify with the administration of Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, because he has the blueprint, determination, commitment and political will to develop the state in all spheres of life of the people of the state.”