The Kaduna State Government has embarked on the construction and equipping of primary health centres in each of its 255 wards to boost healthcare service delivery.
The State’s Commissioner for Health, Professor Jonathan Nok, told reporters at the 11th Kaduna State Council on Health meeting in the capital that the construction of primary health centres were part of plans to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
Professor Nok said that the provision would also strengthen routine immunisation of children in the state, especially in the rural communities.
He also explained that free medical services for pregnant women and children below five years had been strengthened, to achieve the desired result.
The meeting had in attendance health workers from the 23 Local Government Areas in the state, stakeholders in the sector, representatives of World Health Organisation (UNICEF) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) among others.
“The present administration in Kaduna State recognises health as an important public good, and has also identified it as one of the priority areas,” the Commissioner stated.
Some stakeholders in the health sector were of the view that maternal health had remarkably improved in the state, compared to what the situation was some years ago when many maternal deaths were recorded.
According statistics obtained from the state Ministry of Health, Kaduna State records about 100,000 avoidable deaths annually, due to poor health care services.
