In Yobe, Health is Wealth
Although Yobe State is the not among the states with top economies in Nigeria, it has however made the healthcare of its citizens paramount and may in no distant future start reaping the benefits in better economy, reports
Without health, a man may make no relative contribution to the community. There is no doubt that the economy and development of any society or nation can only be propelled by healthy citizens, no wonder the popular maxim: “health is wealth”.
Perhaps this is what informed the decision of Yobe State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni to give top priority to improving healthcare of the people of the state.
The governor in his inaugural address on May 29, 2019 unveiled a healthcare development programme of establishing one functional Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in each of the 178 political wards across the state to bring healthcare delivery to the doorsteps of the people.
As at last count, 140 have been completed, equipped, commissioned, and put to use for the benefit of the people. Each of the PHC has an equipped laboratory, a labour room, a pharmacy stocked with medical consumables, male and female wards for admission of patients, and staff quarters for the accommodation of medical personnel posted to these facilities to ensure 24/7 services in the communities.
For the border communities of Bulatura, in Yusufari Local Government area,. Gumsi, in Yusufari Local Government Area, Dole Machina and Taganama in Machina Local Government Area and Ma’anna, in Geidam Local Government area, it is also a new dawn.
The establishment of the functional PHCs had saved them the stress of traveling across the border to towns in Niger Republic to access healthcare services, which to them is like breaking what is seen as a curse.
And to further take healthcare delivery to the next level in Yobe State, the Buni administration upgraded four General Hospitals to Specialists Hospitals, and eight PHCs to General Hospitals, with all the necessary equipment and facilities befitting of Specialist, and General Hospitals thereby boosting the secondary healthcare delivery and bringing healthcare services much closer to the people of the state.
Buni in fact worried by the distasteful and avoidable record of high maternal and child mortality in the state, constructed the ambitious 375-bed capacity Maternity and Child care health complex, perhaps Nigeria’s largest maternity and child care clinic, the structure is made up of seven blocks of one storey complex with patient-friendly spaces in accordance with the global best practice in modern maternal, newborn and paediatric health care as obtained in advanced countries.
The health facilities, which architectural masterpiece would satisfactorily take care of expectant/nursing mothers, their newborn babies as well as children in general. The obstetrics and gynaecology wing of the complex has 64 open cubicles, five call duty rooms, five satellite pharmacies, one side laboratory and four nurses’ stations.
The Special Baby Care Unit (SCBU) has three adjoining generously spacious and nicely done wards that is 28 baby cots wards for newborn babies suspected of sepsis, 10 newborn cots wards for out-born babies, and 10 newborn baby cots wards for In-born babies, four nurses’ stations, 10-bedspace room/unit for their nursing mothers.
In addition, there is a 10-bed space room for nursing mothers to breastfeed their newborn babies, five doctor’s rest/ call duty rooms, five nurses’ rest/change rooms, five offices for the unit matron in charge, four additional offices for health information management/documentation, seminar room, a library, kitchen and stores.
The Labour ward and obstetrics theatre units have four operation suites (including attached sterilisation and scrubbing area, six recovery rooms, additional offices for anesthetics perioperative nurses, other theatre support staff, male and female change rooms, common room for staff on duty, seminar and computer rooms.
The paediatric medical ward has 40 cubicles, four call rooms, four side labs and a satellite pharmacy.