Sultan tasks FG, states on provision of healthcare facilities

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, has tasked government at all levels on provision of adequate construction and equipping of healthcare facilities for effective healthcare delivery system.

The Sultan gave the charge yesterday in his keynote address while declaring open the first quarter review meeting of Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Healthcare in Kaduna.

The major focus of the meeting was to receive update on Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) initiative launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017.

The CHIPS initiative was aimed at using community-based women to improve maternal and child healthcare, part of which includes educating women on importance of visiting health facilities when need arises to avert deaths from preventable diseases.

The monarch, who decried the deplorable status of healthcare facilities in the country, said: “I will like us to talk about the position of our healthcare facilities across the towns and villages.

“You can’t come around with such programme (CHIPS) advocating about going to clinics for antenatal and you don’t have the clinics. There are so many buildings across the villages in the name of clinics, but no nurses, nothing.

“So, we will want to see states and the Federal Government embark on construction and equipping healthcare facilities across the villages and towns where we have large population of our people.”