The federal government has approved a 50 per cent subsidy on electricity tariffs for public hospitals nationwide.
The minister of state for health and social welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this yesterday while commissioning some projects at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital and National Eye Centre in Kaduna.
The minister commissioned the Electronic Health Records and Alternative Power Supply at the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex and the solarisation project at the dialysis unit, comprising a solar-powered borehole backed by a 10.2 KVA inverter with a lithium battery at Abdulkareem Jika Yusuf COVID-19 Intervention Centre at the psychiatric hospital.
According to the minister, the federal government is going to change the name of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital to a Specialist Hospital to expand care delivery and destigmatise the hospital so that everybody can access it.
“The core services will still be psychiatric, but changing the terminology gives it the liberty to expand the services continuously.
“The success in the Hospital is a testimony to what our president, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, promised Nigerians during his campaign.”
Also, at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, the Minister commissioned Dr G.O Adejor Optical Show Room and Dr M.B Alhassan Diagnostic and Laser Unit.
Earlier in her welcome address, the acting chief medical director of the eye centre, Dr Aminatu Abdulrahman, said the National Eye Centre was established in 1979 to provide specialist eye care services, manpower training and research for Nigeria.
She said the hospital has 300 beds situated on 514 hectares of land, which receives referrals from 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory as well as neighbouring countries
According to her, the Eye Centre has 650 staff members—369 (clinical) and 281 (non-clinical)—and has attended to about 53,406 outpatients. In 2023, 4653 surgeries were performed.
However, while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the commissioning, the minister said the warning strike by doctors was complicating issues for the release of the kidnapped doctor from the Eye Centre but gave assurance that the abducted doctor would be released soon.
Alausa, however, assured that despite the poor structure inherited, President Tinubu is engaging state governments to expand projects on Health Science Universities to sustain the rise of health sciences enrollment from 24,000 annually to 100,000.