The Executive Governor of Gombe state, Alhaji Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahya on Monday inaugurated a 9-man taskforce to look into the deplorable state of health in the state.
According to a statement by Ismaila Uba Misilli, the senior special assistant to the governor on media and publicity, the governor’s move was informed by the deplorable state the health facilities are in the state.
The statement added that a former Chief Medical Director, Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, Professor Usman Aliyu El-Nafaty will head the committee.
Other members of the Taskforce are, Dr. Mohammed Isa Umar, Architect Yunusa Yakubu, Dr. James Emmanuel Madi, Dr. Muazu Ishaq, Ahmed Mohammed Kabir, Dr. Joshua Abubakar Difa, Mrs. Rachael Massa and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Hajiya Zainab Idris Haruna will serve as the committee’s secretary.
“Governor Inuwa Yahaya, while performing the inauguration ceremony, recalled that his visit to some health facilities shortly after his swearing-in showed that the health sector had been neglected by the past administration, resulting in poor or inadequate equipment in health facilities.”
He assured that his administration would do its best in addressing the situation and tasked the committee to review the operational framework on human resource for the health sector vis-a-vis the disposition of health workforce across the tiers of the health system of the State.
The Governor also mandated the committee to suggest and implement immediate ways of bridging the health workforce gap in the state; conduct a rapid needs assessment, both physical and operational of key health facilities especially the Specialist Hospital and recommend improvements in the short, medium and long term bases needed for the facilities to meet the required standard of their establishment.
The committee also has the mandate to critically appraise the abandoned projects in the Specialist Hospital and see to its immediate completion using the best available option to the Government.
Responding on behalf of the Taskforce, it’s Chairman, Professor Usman Aliyu El-Nafaty, lamented the poor health indices of the Northeast and assured that members of the Taskforce will bring to bear their wealth of experience and expertise in addressing the challenges faced by the critical health sector in Gombe state.
He thanked the Governor for finding them worthy for the job and promised to work assiduously to justify the confidence reposed in them.
