National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Olabode Adaramola
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state , has commended the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in conjunction with Gavi Global Alliance Vaccine Immunisation Initiative for donating medical equipment to strengthen the State’s. health care system estimated at over N1 billion.
He gave the commendation when he visited the Public Health Emergency Operations Center and the Niger state’s Drugs and Hospital Consumable Management Agency for inspection of the equipment in on Friday, in Minna.
The Governor said that the equipment would both improve access to health care services especially in rural areas where infant and maternal mortality rate was high.
“This is because people living in rural areas have difficulty in accessing adequate health care services. But with this, they will no longer have to travel to urban health facilities to access services, ” he remarks .
He however advised the state’s ministry of health to train staff at primary health care centers on how to use and maintain the equipment.
The Governor said that government would continue in it’s efforts to provide accessible, qualitative and affordable health care services to the people.
Also, the state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr. Maku Sidi, explained that the equipment were solar direct drive refrigerators that would be distributed to Primary Health Care Centers to improve storage capacity of vaccines.
Sidi further explained that the gesture was a a result of the commitment of the state government towards provision of qualitative health care services to the people.
He, however disclosed that the state government had declared a state of emergency on Mariga and Mashegu local areas on malnutrition in both local governments ,adding that adequate provision had been made to improve nutrition among children in the areas.
Similarly, the Executive Directir, Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Dangana, Executive Director, explained that the solar direct drive refrigerators would be used to store vaccines at PHC centers to ensure their potency.
He added that the solar direct drive refrigerator is to store vaccines meant for immunisation at PHC centers especially in rural areas that do not have electricity, while it is . an independent solar drive that works without using electricity.
He further stated that this is to ensure that the vaccines remain potent and active and they will all be delivered to PHC health care centers to strengthen immunisation as the potency of the refrigerator is 72 hours.
He thereby commended the state government for creating an enabling environment to attract partners to support the health care system.
