Pulse.ng : FG inaugurates key projects in National Eye Centre, Kaduna

By Stella Kabruk

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, on Thursday inaugurated two key projects at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna.

The projects included Dr Godwin Adejor Optical Showroom and Dr Mahmood Alhassan Diagnostics and Laser Unit.

The minister said the hospital was one of the best hospitals in the country serving the citizens well.

He said the inauguration of the projects was to promote equality and enhance access to quality service delivery in the country.

Alausa said, ” This hospital is one of the best so far in the country and the only eye hospital with teaching and research mandates.

” We are trying to see how things will be fixed to make things better.

” We inherited a bad situation in the country and over 2,000 abandoned projects and citizens needs to be patient and give us small time every thing will be fine.

The minister commended the medical director and medical team for treating over 53,000 patients in a year.

He added that President Bola Tinubu has approved a50 per cent electricity subsidy to public hospitals and the minister of power was working towards it.

In his response to the challenges of the hospital, the minister assured them of government’s assistance to address some of them.

He said they were working on the japa syndrome and engaging those leaving for other countries to come back.

Alausa said, “On the mass exodus of medical staff to other nations of the world, there is a strategy we are doing by engaging medical personnel in the diaspora.

”We are assuring that in spite of the poor infrastructure inherited, the president is a motivator.

” People are leaving for other countries, it is a free world but I assure you that they are coming back .

” It is not the economy that is making them leave but they are leaving to develop themselves.

” Very soon, they are coming back to improve on medical education and research.”

He said that the ministry has put a budget in place to support doctors in diaspora, saying, ”i believe things will get better when they come back.”

According to him, they are in talking terms with the state governments to set up health sciences institutions, saying that Ogun, FCT and Kwara are the next pilot states.

“We are engaging state governments to expand projects on Health Science Universities to sustain the rise of health sciences enrollment from 24000 annually to 100, 000,” Alausa said.

Earlier in her welcome speech, the acting Chief Medical Director Dr Aminatu Abdulrahman, said the centre was established in 1979 with a mandate to provide of specialist eye care services, training of manpower and research for Nigeria

According to her, the hospital has 300 beds and receives referrals from the 36 states of Nigeria, FCTy and neighbouring countries

With a total of 640 clinical and non-clinical staff, Abdulrahman said about 53,406 out patients have been attended to and 4,653 surgeries were performed in the year 2023.

She said the hospital was faced with the challenges of insecurity, which led to the kidnapping of a resident doctor who was staying in the hospital’s staff quarters.

The chief medical director said the hospital was also faced with the challenge of electricity billing.

Abdulrahman said, ” We have a debt of N24million in spite of using diesel.

” We are also faced with bad roads that we had to plead with Dantata to help us grade part of the road.”

According to her, the hospital was also faced with litigation cases, some running for up to 12 to 13 years.

She appealed to the Federal Government for increased funding by shoring up its capital and concurrent budgets.(NAN)