Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa, has announced a major policy shift, with the Federal Government approving a 50 per cent electricity subsidy for public hospitals nationwide.
This move is designed to alleviate operational costs and ease the financial burden on patients.
Dr Alausa made the announcement at the National Neo-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, Kaduna, where he also inaugurated several new facilities.
These include the Electronic Health Records and Alternative Power Supply at the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex and a solarisation project at the dialysis unit, which features a solar-powered borehole and a 10.2 KVA inverter with a lithium battery at the Abdulkareem Jika Yusuf COVID-19 Intervention Centre.
In addition to these upgrades, Dr Alausa revealed plans to rename federal hospitals as Specialist Hospitals. He stated, “We are going to change the names of our federal hospitals to specialist hospitals to expand care delivery and destigmatise hospitals so that everybody can come here.
“While the core services will remain psychiatric, this renaming will allow for the continuous expansion of services.”
He expressed confidence in the leadership of Dr Aishatu Yusha’u Armiyau, the Chief Medical Director, noting that the hospital’s advancements reflect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign promises.
The subsidy is a response to the increasing overhead costs faced by hospitals, with energy expenses accounting for more than 40% of these costs, according to the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP).
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