It is obvious, that numerous challenges of the Jigawa health sector have not captured the attention of Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar who has been emphasizing the commitments of his administration on improving the health care delivery in the state.
In July 2020, his Excellency Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar approved the disengagement request by the Honorable Commissioner of Health Dr. Abba Zakari to take up an appointment with United Nation International Children Emergency Funds (UNICEF).
Dr. Abba Zakari has been with Jigawa State Government as Health Commissioner despite his resignation, until August 2020, when he moves to his new position in UNICEF, as Senior Special Assistant to the Executive Governor of Jigawa State on New Media Auwal Danladi Sankara reported, no one occupied the office till up to now.
Although. the New UNICEF Office occupied by Dr. Abba will be supporting Jigawa state among other northern states to strengthen their health systems, the people and government of Jigawa state cherish this illustrious son who has immensely contributed to the development of the state.
Among his achievements are the Construction of Specialist Hospitals in Kazaure and Hadejia Local Governments, to reform the health system in the state.
Under Dr. Zakari’s watch, pregnant women and children below 5 years are the beneficiaries of the free health policy introduced by him. Building of the school of Nursing and Midwifery in Babura and Hadejia Local Governments furnished them with state-of-the art equipment.
Construction of 3 General Hospitals in Garki, Guri, and Buji, to enhance their performance.
Under Dr. Abba Zakari, 80 clinical hospitals have been completed across the state in a bid to move the healthcare delivery close to the people, among others, But today, things have changed now after Dr. Abba said Goodbye to the Office of Jigawa state Health Commissioner, people are lamenting over the unfavorable condition of service by the patients and health personnel at our respective hospitals and their offices.
Recently, Newsmen reported that Women at Bordo village, in Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State contributed money to buy a vehicle for taking pregnant women in labor to the hospital for delivery, this has exposed the weaknesses of the Ministry of Health in Jigawa to construct Health facilities for women in labor and Children in the state.
The condition of Bordo village is not peculiar to many rural communities across the state, where the absence of functional health facilities and poor access roads leads to the deaths of many women while giving birth.
Malnutrition 3, 944 children under the age of five years died between 2010 and 2020 at public centers for the treatment of acute malnutrition in children, According to official figures.
Recently, Premium Times Newspaper reported that 3,944 children under the age of five years died between 2010 and 2020 art centers established by the state government across the state for the treatment of acute malnutrition in children. This implies that an average of 10 children died from malnutrition daily in the state in the past 10 years.
About a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) certified Nigeria polio-free, the federal government on 5 July 2021, announced an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in 13 states including Jigawa. It listed the states as Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, FCT, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency Dr. Faisal Shuaib said the sub-optimal performance has been recorded in all the states due to the high number of missed children during the outbreak response.
In Jigawa State, the poor performance of the office of Health Commissioner on Polio vaccine will affect how the state government failed to bring the outbreak under control through routine immunization. In December ending 2020, The Jigawa State Government has concluded all arrangements to sponsor the second badge of 60 students who are expected to study medicine in China, aimed at bridging the gap of manpower in the health sector.
The choice of 60 students was based on merit, as all the students had passed a test organized by the state ministry of health, but from 2020 to date, no student arrived in China to Medicine under state government sponsorship. All these are the weaknesses of the Office of Health Commissioner who is empty.
Recently, at least over 50 people were confirmed dead due to infection believed to be cholera in many parts of Jigawa state. Confirming the death, the permanent secretary in the state ministry of health Dr. Salisu Mu’ azu said the death was from about 2,000 patients that were already confirmed to have contracted with the disease.
It was learned that the outbreak started from a month from nine local governments of Ringim, Dutse, Hadejia, Kirikasamma, Birnin kudu, and now it was boosted to some local governments such as Kirikasamma, Auyo, Guri and Kafin Hausa my town, as a result of the flow of water from open spaces into Wells and water outlets that the people used for domestic purposes.
Imagine, the outbreak of cholera for a month without been traced by stakeholders including the Health Commissioner, UNICEF among others to curtail the pandemic on time. It will be recalled, that the longest problems of the health sector in Jigawa state are still there, there were no sustainable water and electricity supplies, and basic equipment such as operating tables, patient beds, and trolleys was still lacking.
There was no progress on the construction of Specialist hospitals in Hadejia and Kazaure Emirates, as Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar promised to complete them within. “This hospital will be built in 18 months and will be commissioned in 2019,” I could remember vividly when the governor Badaru said at the ceremony. But it is over four years since and the specialist hospital remains under construction.
I conducted an investigation on the hospital project and found that it is still dragging despite the governor’s pledge to commission it in 2019. PREMIUM TIMES said A review of the state’s budget showed that the government had awarded contracts not just for the construction of the Hadejia Special Hospital but also for two other hospitals in Birnin Kudu and Kazaure local government areas.
This has exposed the weakness of the Office of the Honorable Commissioner Ministry of Health for not been active and well-prepared on regulatory functions, which including quality assurance (setting of standards for personnel, infrastructure, and services for registration of both public and private health institutions operating in the State), monitoring and evaluation.
Issue of Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in Nigeria with about 18 deaths every hour, according to a 2018 UNICEF survey.
Over the years, the government and many development partners have made efforts to ensure the prevention and good management of pneumonia cases in the country However, while the global death rate has reduced by 51%; in Nigeria, it has reduced by only 8%.
In some areas of Jigawa state, access to comprehensive health care is a challenge, as there is no medical doctor in all the health facilities in the local governments. So many challenges in the Jigawa state health sector, due to the lack of the commitments of a dedicated commissioner of the ministry, in fact, I don’t think the ministry will have a representative in the state executive council.
Habibu Idris Gimba Kafin Hausa writes from Jigawa.
