Olu Samuel, Lokoja

Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has announced the commencement of rehabilitation of 70 Primary Healthcare Centres across the state.

This was disclosed at the flag off of the distribution of medical equipment and consumables for all healthcare facilities in the state on Thursday

Governor Ododo who noted that funding for the rehabilitation of the PHCs has been secured by the state government, disclosed that the state has already pre-qualified contractors for the project which will be distributed across the 21 local government areas in the state while seven new facilities will be cited in communities without any healthcare facility before now.

Speaking at the ceremony which also marked the commencement of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) programme for children by the state ministry of health and its donor partners in Lokoja, Governor Ododo reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to revitalizing the health sector in the state.

He stressed that no one in any part of the state deserves any form of deprivation from accessing quality and affordable healthcare under his administration.

While acknowledging that “quality healthcare delivery is a multi-dimensional system which depends on joint efforts from Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations”, Governor Ododo commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing interventions in the health sector through development of infrastructure and human resources under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration.

The Governor also commended partners and donor agencies for supporting the state towards ensuring sustainable, affordable and accessible healthcare delivery for all, irrespective of class, gender, or location across the state.

Earlier, the state Commissioner for health Dr. AbdulAzeez Adams, said the provision of the medical equipment and consumables demonstrates the commitment of the Kogi State government to ensuring good and quality healthcare delivery to her citizens throughout the state.

He noted that the government has invested huge resources into revitalizing the healthcare delivery system in the state, adding that evidence of this investment can be found in various infrastructural development in the health sector which is further enhanced by the
collaboration with partners and donors within and outside the country to make equipment and consumables available to healthcare facilities in the state.

He enumerated the equipment and consumables to include: “Oxygen Concentrators, UPS, Pulse Oxymeters, Oxygen Cylinders, flow meters, nasal canula, Generators, 4 Mobile X-ray machines, patient monitors, apron and theatre scrub, microcentrifuge tubes, intravenous infusions, filter universal pipette tips, surgical gowns and Public Address Systems for sensitization across the 239 wards in the state.

“We have comenced rehabilitation of the Kogi State Central Medical Store which houses the Kogi State Drug Management Agency, recently upgraded to an e-pharma warehouse in the state”.

This decision, according to the Governor “will ensure proper storage of drugs and medical consumables, thus enabling the state government to procure drugs from manufacturers directly at cheaper rates for distribution to health facilities in the state.”

Governor Ododo also approved the provision of two units of 33KVA electricity transformers and generators for the state Cold Chain facility to guarantee uninterrupted power supply and sustainable chain management for vaccines and other medical consumables in the state.