From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano State Government has condemned the ongoing act of stealing of public drugs and hospital facilities by some health officials in the state
Kano State Commissioner for Health, Abubakar Labaran Yusuf condemned this act at a workshop on Advancing Women’s Health in the state, regretting that the theft, perpetrated in connivance with the members of the public, has been undermining the free health care policy of the administration.
Speaking at the workshop organized by the Center for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) and Pathfinder, he stressed that these free drugs were too often taken out of stock by the officials while patients were made to go outside the facilities to buy the same drugs
He, however, assured that the state government was taking several measures to address the situation, one of which was the adoption of the Electronic Medical Records, which would give access to all the patients benefiting from the free drug program.
He appealed to the communities to put their eyes on their health facilities and the conduct of its officials even as he tasked the media to report any incident of stealing of these free drugs.
On women’s health, the Commissioner stated that only 30 percent of pregnant women in the state attend ante-natal care before pregnancy.
He attributed the poor antenatal record to the high maternal mortality rate recorded in the state explaining that failure to attend ante- natal care gives room for unplanned delivery and allows for complications, which could lead to untimely death.
In his address, Senior Technical Adviser, (CCSI) Olayemi Abodurim said the workswas aimed at interrogating the state government policy on women’s health and to seek ways to better the health of women and girls in the state.