FG, Gates foundation commend Gombe govt’s commitment to quality healthcare

The Federal Government and Gates Foundation have commended Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, for his administration’s commitment to strengthening the healthcare system in the state.

The commendation was given during a courtesy call jointly paid by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate and the President, Global Development of Gates Foundation as part of their 1-day working visit to Gombe state.

The team was in Gombe in continuation of its engagement with Governors and other stakeholders following the adoption of a sector-wide approach for implementing the NHSRII which was recently launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

It is to serve as a mechanism to galvanise coordination between the Federal Government, States and Local governments to strengthen PHCs, eradicate all forms of polio and improve outcomes for citizens across the country.

Speaking during the visit, the Coordinating Minister said that the Federal government acknowledged the successes the Inuwa Yahaya-led administration is recording in healthcare,

He stated that “Comparing the 2018 and 2023 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) results, the progress that you and your team achieved is truly commendable.

“Some of these include: a 100% increase in delivery by skilled birth attendants from 19% to 38%; a 78% increase in the proportion of children who received their first dose of Penta vaccine; a 131% increase in the proportion of children who received the third dose of Penta vaccine from 26 to 60%; a 170% increase in the proportion of children who are fully immunised for basic antigens; and an 88% increase in the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) from 16 to 30%.”

The Minister further noted that these achievements were enabled because Governor Inuwa Yahaya has provided needed resources, saying from 2023, the Governor has increased the health budget year-on-year by 82%, and the wins achieved by his administration are a clear testament to his leadership and commitment, as well as that of his team.

He also applauded Inuwa Yahaya for his efforts in transforming Gombe state since his assumption of office, noting that not only his administration’s commitment to revitalising healthcare, the Governor has done so much in other sectors and made Gombe a model for other states to emulate.

“Your Excellency, I feel at home whenever I visit Gombe. As a leader, you have taken Gombe in a direction that has a lot we can learn from. We also appreciate Your Excellency’s commitment to aligning with the Federal Government’s initiatives to enhance healthcare in Nigeria.

“Your Excellency, since your assumption of office in May 2019, you have led Gombe state to achieve significant strides and become a model state for others to emulate.

“Your efforts made us all proud during the 2024 PHC Leadership Challenge, where Gombe won the prize for best innovation, and also came in as one of the best-performing states in primary healthcare delivery,” the Minister stated.

He, however, stated that there are significant opportunities to consolidate the gains and continue to ensure that the people of Gombe state have the best quality of care that they deserve through a system that they trust.

Ali Pate announced further partnerships in priority areas such as crashing mortality rates through the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), health facility infrastructure improvements, and other initiatives aimed at improving the quality delivery of healthcare services across the state.

Similarly, the President of Global Development at the Gates Foundation, Chris Elias, lauded the Gombe State Government for demonstrating strong leadership in the healthcare sector, particularly in enhancing budgetary allocations to the sector and implementing sustainable reforms aimed at improving access to quality healthcare.

He said the Gates Foundation has been following reports on the progress being made in the healthcare system in Gombe, and his delegation joined the Minister of Health to come and learn from what the state was able to achieve as well as identify areas of support and collaboration to achieve greater positive outcomes.

In his response, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya informed his guests that upon assumption of office in 2019, his administration inherited a weak health system with poor outcomes such as decayed infrastructure, lack of manpower, zero access to healthcare provision funds, poor relationship with development partners and low sectoral budgetary allocation to the healthcare among other challenges.

“When we came, there was only 3.5% budgetary allocation to healthcare. The sector was in dire need of intervention.

“Upon assumption of office, we conducted a comprehensive needs assessment to identify key challenges. We immediately declared a state of emergency in healthcare and implemented necessary reforms.

“To strengthen primary healthcare, we set up a task force to ensure compliance with all standards, and we sustain collaboration with traditional rulers to achieve our objectives in the sector. We revitalized all primary healthcare facilities and identified four facilities from each senatorial zone for upgrade to enhance secondary healthcare access,” Inuwa said.

Inuwa spoke on his administration’s key achievements in the healthcare sector, emphasising efforts to expand access, improve infrastructure, and address manpower challenges.

He stressed that “We established the Go-Health scheme, providing coverage for 354,000 people, including 100,000 vulnerable and internally displaced persons affected by insurgency in this sub-region.

“When we came, Gombe was the only state without a Hospital Management Board, we created one to ensure effective oversight of secondary healthcare facilities.

“Additionally, we established the Drugs and Medical Consumables Management Agency to guarantee the availability of quality medicines at affordable prices.”

The Governor further outlined some of the efforts being made to address the challenge of manpower which he said, remains the greatest challenge of the health sector in the state.

He said “We have taken steps to address the challenge by retaining 46 indigenous doctors recently produced by our state university for internships, recruiting 440 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), and expanding the School of Nursing to a 1,000-student capacity.

“We also plan to expand the medical college at Gombe State University and explore private-sector collaboration to locally produce some essential drugs.

“To tackle malnutrition, we partnered with UNICEF for support, and also the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) at Ahmadu Bello University to produce therapeutic products locally to further tackle the problem of malnutrition.

“This has significantly improved child nutrition in Gombe state. We equally introduced a biometric attendance system to enhance punctuality and accountability among civil servants in the state, especially the health workers.

“These efforts reflect our strong commitment to transforming the healthcare sector and ensuring quality service delivery for all residents of Gombe State.”

He stressed that, “We appreciate the support of the Federal Government and our development partners, particularly the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in our quest to improve healthcare delivery.”

Inuwa assured the Federal Government and the Gates Foundation of his administration’s readiness to sustain and expand existing collaborations to achieve better health outcomes for the people of Gombe State.

” Our government remains committed to this cause, and we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure that our people receive quality and affordable healthcare services,” the Governor stated.

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