By Rita Iliya
Minna – Dr Mustapha Jibril, the Commissioner of Health in Niger, says more than 5,000 persons have so far benefited from the free medical surgeries programme, initiated by Gov. Abubakar Bello’s administration.
He said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Thursday.
He said that the beneficiaries were from all the local government areas of the state.
Besides, Jibril said that more than 1,000 less privileged persons had also benefited from free eye surgeries in Minna and Bida, adding that the eye care scheme would soon be extended to Kontagora Local Government Area.
“The gesture is part of the state government’s efforts to provide free medical services, especially to people who cannot afford the services.
“We have also come up with a bill for the establishment of the state contributory primary health care scheme for our people to access good health care services. Very soon, the bill will be passed by the state House of Assembly.
“We have equipped our primary health care centres to be more effective in serving our people across the 274 wards in the state. This is to ensure that our people have access to quality medical care,’’ he said.
Jibril said that the Abubakar Bello-administration had recruited over 400 health workers, while paying full salaries to the state’s health workers.
He said that the state government had established a school of nursing in Kontagora, adding that it had recruited over 100 nurses, while facilitating the accreditation of the schools of nursing in Minna and Bida.
He said that all the efforts were aimed at repositioning the health sector for effective health care delivery in the state.
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