By Tina George, Minna
Niger state government is working towards handing over the maintenance of its hospitals and healthcare centres to facility managers.
The state governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello who disclosed this to newsmen over the weekend in Kontagora, said that the decision is as a result of difficulties in maintaining the health facilities using local staff.
He added that it would be better to keep the maintenance of the health facilities outside civil service purview.
“The state government is working towards handing over our hospitals to facility managers because we have difficulties in maintenance using our local staff. We want to outsource maintenance of our facility to managers.”
He spoke after commissioning the Dr Amina Bello Women Health Center, which was built and equipped by Mainstream Foundation and Raise Foundation.
Bello lamented that the health sector had suffered a lot of neglect for many years and would take time for government health facilities to come back to full effective status.
He appealed to the public to understand, saying that although it is government’s responsibility to provide public health services, with population explosion, the bad economy and security challenges in the state, they have been unable to pay full attention to health services.
He applauded his wife for coming up with the women health Centre, which would carter for women with Vaginal Vistula Fistula (VVF) and change the lives of women suffering from the problem.
Sani-Bello appealed to the private sector to support state and federal government by intervening in the health sector to give the people better health services.
The wife of the governor, Dr Amina Sani-Bello said the women health centre was created to manage women suffering from obstetric fistula, adding that obstetric fistula is one of the most dehumanizing conditions that could affect any woman.
She stated that the Dr Amina Bello women health centre was built to address all the aspects related to the treatment and rehabilitation of fistula patients free of charge.
She added that it comprised a hospital where women are provided with surgical treatment and post-operative management; a hostel for patients to stay and recuperate and a skill acquisition centre where women will be trained with skills that would empower them and enable them to reintegrate back into their communities.
According to her the two foundations have treated over 300 women with obstetric fistula in eight camps in Bida, Sabon Wuse, Minna and Kontagora from 2015 to June 2020.
Dr Sani-Bello added that five of the camps were done in collaboration with Mainstream Foundation while three others were done with an NGO called Bridgewise and Islamic medical association.
“The Dr Amina Women Health centre was completed in October 2020 and it became operational in November 2020. We treated 18 women last November and December and another 16 in February while we currently have 21 women on the wards.”
