Kaduna State says it has recorded significant improvements in its healthcare sector over the past three years, with investments in hospital infrastructure, primary healthcare, emergency medical services, disease prevention and workforce development under Governor Uba Sani’s administration.
The Commissioner for Health, Umma Kaltume Ahmad, said the reforms were aimed at building a resilient, accessible and people-centred health system capable of meeting the healthcare needs of residents across the state.
According to the commissioner, one of the administration’s landmark achievements is the commissioning of a 300-bed specialist hospital, which she said would reduce the need for patients to seek advanced medical care outside the state.
She added that the government had also completed the upgrade of 16 secondary health facilities, revitalised 255 primary healthcare centres and constructed three pharmaceutical-grade warehouses to improve the storage and quality of medicines and medical supplies.
Ahmad disclosed that about 1,800 primary healthcare workers had been recruited and placed on the CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures to improve staff welfare, retention and service delivery.
She said the state had also prioritised maternal and newborn healthcare through the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), equipping health facilities with neonatal care units and strengthening emergency obstetric services.
To improve emergency response, the commissioner said the government established the Kaduna State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (KADSEMSAS), deploying advanced life-support ambulances and trained personnel to respond to road accidents, obstetric emergencies and other critical health situations.
On disease prevention, Ahmad said Kaduna implemented one of Nigeria’s largest Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention campaigns, protecting over 2.1 million eligible children during the rainy season. She added that more than 4.3 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets had been distributed, while over 2.6 million children aged between one and 59 months received Azithromycin to reduce childhood illnesses.
She noted that the state had also strengthened routine immunisation, expanded tuberculosis and HIV programmes, intensified nutrition interventions and improved responses to outbreaks such as cholera and diphtheria.
The commissioner further highlighted the establishment of the Kaduna State Centre for Disease Control (KDCDC) to enhance disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and emergency response, alongside the gradual deployment of Electronic Medical Records to improve patient care and health information management.
Ahmad said the government had leveraged partnerships with development agencies, civil society organisations and the private sector to accelerate progress in healthcare delivery, adding that the state’s efforts had earned national and international recognition for improvements in disease surveillance, primary healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chains.
While acknowledging that challenges such as population growth, sustainable financing and increasing demand for specialised healthcare remain, she expressed confidence that the reforms had laid a solid foundation for Kaduna State’s journey toward achieving Universal Health Coverage.
