Yobe Floats Tertiary Hospital To Curb Medical Tourism

The Yobe State Government on Saturday said it was establishing a tertiary health facility to curb medical tourism outside the state.

According to Daily Times, Dr Bello Kawuwa, a Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam on Health, said in Damaturu on Saturday that the hospital had reached 95 per cent completion stage. And that when completed, the hospital would be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities as obtainable in other parts of the world.

“The 200- bed- tertiary health institution in Damaturu is being equipped with diagnostic facilities such as 1.5 Teslar MRI machine and 65 slide CT scan machine, found in few hospitals in Nigeria,” he said.

The aide also stated that government had entered into partnership with consultants from Teaching Hospitals in Maiduguri, Kano and other parts of the country.

“We also have specialists coming from the Federal Medical Centres, Nguru, Azare and Gombe, providing medical services in our hospitals.”

“The Damaturu Specialists’ Hospital has been upgraded from its present 150-bed capacity, to 400-bed capacity hospital, in order to meet the growing health care needs of the people,” he said.

He added that , government has been providing free drugs to pregnant women, children and victims of insurgency attacks, as well as giving artificial limbs to the victims, under the State of Emergency programme.

“Other efforts being made in the health sector include the construction and furnishing of 100 housing units for Doctors and other health professionals, to improve efficiency.

“Government has also employed 450 nurses and midwives, and sponsored 370 medical students in health institutions under the ‘State of Emergency’ programme on health in the state,” he said