(http://peoplesdailyng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/KadunState.jpg) (http://peoplesdailyng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/KadunState.jpg)From Muhamma Ibrahim, Kaduna with agency report
The Kaduna State Government says it is upgrading the Barau Dikko Hospital, to serve as the state university' teaching hospital.
The Commissioner for Health, Mr Patrick Maigari, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Sunday.
Maigari said the hospital would serve that function before the completion of the 300-bed specialist hospital at the Millennium City.
The medical school of the seven-year-old university came on stream about three-years ago.
"What we want to avoid is a situation where the accreditation of courses in the state university's medical school will be delayed because of the lack of a quality teaching hospital,'' he said.
According to him, the facilities being upgraded are the Intensive Care Unit, the Pathology Laboratory as well as other key components.
He said that other facilities required would be provided to quicken the accreditation, stressing that Gov. Mukhtar Yero had intensified the supervision of the upgrading to guard against any delay.
"The governor has already given the handlers the marching order and had told them that all deadlines must be adhered to.
"He has also told them that quality must never be compromised so we expect most of the handlers to turn in their jobs by July or thereabout because we cannot have our students fighting over accreditation,'' he said.
Maigari, a pharmacist, promised to work toward an improved health care delivery system by involving all stakeholders as team players with equal importance in the chain.
"We shall respect every player and expect that such respect must be mutual from the doctor, the pharmacist, to the smallest ward attendant,'' he said.
Maigari said consultations with professional unions and other key players in the health sector were ongoing to acquaint them of the state government's mission and its resolve to better the state's health indices.
"I have also begun consultations with development partners in the areas of malaria, HIV, family health, leprosy and tuberculosis and have briefed them on what the state government expects from them.
"Equally, I have conveyed the governor's resolve to meet our obligations in the area of counterpart funding because the governor has asked the economic planning ministry to compile that for prompt payment.''
He said that he would visit health facilities in the three senatorial districts to ascertain areas in need of urgent intervention.
Maigari said that government was concerned about the souring rates of infant and maternal mortality and was committed to bringing down the figures "to a tolerable level''.
According to him, the free maternal and child health care programme for pregnant women and children under five years will be strengthened to cover all.
"We also want to totally eradicate polio by the year 2015, especially since the governor has led by example in presenting his own son for vaccination,'' he said.
He said that rural health would also receive special attention through the upgrading of 1,000 Primary Health Centres (PHCs).
"We shall equip all of them and ensure that they have sufficient manpower to work with the drug management agencies for effective health care delivery,'' he said.
The commissioner said that Kaduna had keyed into the Federal Government's midwifery scheme to meet the medical personnel needs of the rural areas. (NAN)
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