The Sokoto State Government has finalized plans to reconstruct its 100-year-old Specialists Hospital, a move aimed at providing affordable and high-quality healthcare services to its citizens. Dr. Faruku Wurno, the Commissioner for Health, disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday in Sokoto.

According to him, this significant project complements the ongoing rehabilitation of primary healthcare facilities and general hospitals across the state.

Wurno explained that the decision to replace the aging facility aligned with Gov. Ahmad Aliyu?s commitment to ensuring residents had access to modern, quality healthcare.

This initiative also seeks to restore public confidence in government-run health facilities.

?The hospital has served us for over a century. It is outdated and no longer meets modern healthcare standards.

?Gov. Aliyu approved the development of a new world-class hospital that will provide comprehensive and specialist care.

?We are not just rehabilitating it, we are restoring public trust in government healthcare,? the commissioner said.

According to him, the government has procured 240 new hospital beds and mattresses, as well as ultrasound machines and X-ray machines, which have been strategically distributed across the three senatorial districts.

He said that electricity, water supply, and other infrastructural improvements were ensured, alongside 125 Primary Health Care centres under rehabilitation by the present administration.

He added that significant improvements had been recorded as a result of a renewed emphasis on preventive healthcare and effective community engagement.

Wurno said that immunization coverage in the state had improved, while rejection rates had dropped drastically.

He revealed that vaccine rejection cases had reduced from 4,000 to 1,000 in the last immunisation cycle and commended partners, traditional rulers, and religious leaders on their support.

?Our outreach campaigns, coupled with strong advocacy by community and religious leaders, are changing perceptions and saving lives.

?Our approach is holistic, curative and preventive.

?We?ve strengthened disease surveillance, improved training for epidemiologists, and working closely with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria and other unions to curb quackery,? he added.

He disclosed that four hospitals had been accredited to offer free obstetric care, including Cesarean Section procedures, under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which had further solidified the government?s commitment to maternal and child health. (Vanguard)

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