Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has tasked the Minister of Health to reposition the health sector for an effective service delivery in Borno and other states of the country.
  
Zulum gave the charge at the weekend, in Maiduguri, when the Health Minister, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, led a Federal Government delegation to commiserate with him over last Monday’s death of Professor Emeritus, Umaru Shehu at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) at 92 years. 
  
“I told my health team yesterday that this is the right time to reposition the critical sector.
 
“If we cannot do it now, then we should forget about it; because the Commissioner of Health, Prof. Babagana Mallum; the Chief Medical Director of the Hospitals Management Board, Prof. Bukar Kullima, the Coordinator of the State Primary Healthcare Agency, Prof. Mohammed Arab Alhaji and above all you, the Coordinating Minister of Health is also a professor in the health sector,” he said.  

Zulum stated that, “if these professors cannot reposition the country’s health sector, in three or four years, honestly speaking, I don’t think we can get it right any time soon.” 
 
Zulum, therefore, pledged that his administration would ensure it provides the needed support and political will to address problems affecting the health sector. 
 
“I want to assure you that this administration will provide leadership and the political will to drive the health sector to the best we can offer to the people,” he stated. 
 
The governor also listed the gains recorded in the health sector in the last four years to include the construction, reconstruction and equipping of 200 primary and post-primary healthcare centres.

He said that all the healthcare centres were provided with medical facilities and consumables to ensure effective healthcare delivery services. Zulum also commended the Federal Ministry of Health and parastatals in the sector for supporting the state government to render healthcare delivery services to residents. 
 
“The collaborations with the Federal Government have been very remarkable and we can only crave for more support,” he said. Pate, who was accompanied by the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shu’aib and other officials, expressed gratitude to the governor for his support to Federal Government-owned health institutions in the state, particularly the UMTH.
 
The Deputy Governor of the state, Umar Kadafur, Senators Mohammed Monguno, Kaka Shehu Lawan and other top government officials were present during the visit.