In an effort to develop the health sector of his state, the governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed has led a delegation to the Federal Ministry of Health.
The governor during the visit on Friday expressed the readiness of his administration to satisfy the health needs of people of the state.
According to the Governor, he is bent on leaving a legacy of service to the people at the expiration of his tenure, requesting partnership with the state to take health sector in his state to greater heights.
In a statement issued at the weekend by the Director, Information, Media & Public Relations, Olujimi Oyetomi, the governor commended the Minister, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and his team for bringing the issues of the health sector to the level it is.
Governor Mohammed while dentifying that the outbreak of COVID-19 has come with various challenges applauded the Minister and his team for exhibiting competence in handling the pandemic.
“We want to look at all our inadequacies and limitations, take our political inventory, our human capital and approach our partners to find a way of closing the gaps” he said.
The statement says, “He remarked that not until Dr. Osagie Ehanire’s arrival on the scene, health sector has been a neglected sector, “the primary health care, the secondary, and even the tertiary health care sector”, he said. The Bauchi Governor, H.E. Bala Mohammed therefore, invited the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire to be a part of the upcoming Bauchi State Health Summit at a future date.
“Governor Mohammed further disclosed his Government has been doing so much in Bauchi’s health sector but identified the Bauchi challenge as including the problem with implementing the “Saving One Million Lives”; the issue of Basic Health care Provision, stating that Bauchi “has not been able to access anything despite Buachi having complied with all the guidelines”; and the human capital”.
The Minister of Health, Dr, Ehanire in his response noted that training of health workers and retaining them in their places of origin has become vital to enhance manpower development in the sector.
“The solution of training health care personnel from the locality that will also be quartered in that same locality so that “they would not run away. If you bring from other places, they will stay a few months and they would want to go back to where they come from. So, we want to localize and indigenize human capital development for the health care sector.”
Dr. Ehanire also urged the Governor to buy into the programme of ‘One General Hospital per Local Government and supporting the General Hospital with the Staff of Tertiary Hospital.
Dr. Osagie Ehanire further sold the idea of his pet project – the Emergency Ambulance Service – NEMSAS to the visiting Bauchi State Team.
He said, since bauch already has 108 PHCs with the propensity to putting more in place; Secondary Health Care Institutions and Tertiary Health Care Centers, “then what remains is and emergency ambulance system” which he said “has the potential of reducing maternal mortality by 25 to 30%.”
The Honourable Minister of Health thereafter accepted the Bauchi Governor’s invitation to be a part of the upcoming Bauchi State Health Summit.
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