Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has released over N10 billion to the chairs of the 34 local government areas of the state to build primary health centres.
The governor said this during an interactive session with journalists on Monday in Katsina, saying three primary health centres would be constructed in each council area.
He added, “When I became the governor, I talked about the World Health Organisation’s resolution on the need to have functional primary health centres in rural areas that can work 24 hours.
“The aim is to reduce child and maternal mortality and other difficulties faced by rural people whenever they are sick.”
According to him, there should also be accommodation for health workers, enough drugs, constant and potable water, and electricity supply, among others.
Mr Radda revealed that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) would provide those institutions running costs ranging from N250,000 to N400,000.
He said the functional health centres in rural areas would assist in decongesting hospitals in urban areas. The governor, however, decried the shortage of staff to man the centres.
“However, we have over 5,000 casual staff and if we are to confirm them, their salaries would double those of the over 7,000 teachers recently recruited.
“This is because the salary of some health workers is almost triple that of teachers. That’s the challenge now, but in spite of that, we will recruit health workers in due course.
“Before the end of the year, we’ll make sure that no fewer than 361 functional primary health care centres are provided in the state,” the governor said.