The National Economic Council, on Thursday, approved plans to overhaul 17,000 and 774 primary and secondary healthcare centres, respectively, nationwide.
It stated that the action was taken in reaction to financial shortages and declining healthcare indicators, as disclosed by a presentation made to the council by Prof. Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
Following the 137th National Economic Council meeting, which was presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, Governor of Bauchi State Bala Mohammed gave State House Correspondents an overview of the government’s plan.
Conveying the insights from Pate’s presentation, which highlighted the critical condition of the health sector, Governor Mohammed said, “The presentation…dissected in terms of a very robust sector scan on health, from the tertiary to the primary level, looking at all the gaps, the problems, and the challenges of funding.”
He bemoaned the harsh figures demonstrating a fall in health indices, such as newborn mortality rates, and said that the administration under Tinubu seeks to create a coalition of interested parties for comprehensive, long-lasting changes.
Consequently, he declared that the program’s renewal would cover “17,000 primary health centers to be put on a threshold of viability and 774 secondary facilities, that is, hospitals, in addition to some tertiary institutions.”
According to Mohammed, the goal of this extensive strategy is to “ensure that medicare is brought close to the majority of Nigerians.”
