Gombe Gov. At Chatham House: My Universal Health Coverage Accomplishments | Tellwell Newspaper

Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State appeared before the global public in London, Friday, and rolled out his administration’s accomplishments towards attaining Universal Health Coverage in the state.

Governor Yahaya was at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, called Chatham House, alongside two other Nigerian Governors – Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Abdullahi Sule of Lagos and Nasarawa states, respectively, to participate at a high level event tagged: Accelerating Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria, on the invitation of Public Health Africa Policy Forum, in collaboration with Centre for Universal Health, Chatham House.

Governor Inuwa was specially invited and offered the platform to showcase his administration’s achievements at the global stage in recognition of the genuine massive reforms taking place in Gombe under his leadership.

The Governor, who spoke on the topic ‘Political Leadership and The Universal Health Coverage Quest: The Impact on People’, noted that reforms in the health sector and beyond are critical political decisions that leaders must delibrately focus on and invest in, in order to strengthen the social contract between them and the people.

While sharing his perspectives on Gombe state’s journey towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage, Governor Inuwa said that over the last three years, his administration has taken measures to revamp the health system for better service delivery.

This, according to him, includes the complete upgrade of the specialist hospital Gombe, revitalization of primarry health care centres (PHCC) across all the 114 wards of the state, the ongoing upgrade of general hospitals, as well as the establishment of Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (GoHealth) to ensure financial risk protection for the people of the state.

Recall that Governor Inuwa, had while campaigning, promised to among others proactively implement strategies to achieve Universal Health Coverage in the state using Primary Health Care as the corner stone to increase efficient, qualitative and affordable healthcare facilities and services as well as ensure availability of essential drugs, vaccines and immunisation across the 11 Local Government Areas of the state.

Apparently worried by the decay and poorly functional health system in the state, the Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya-led government, upon assuming office, declared a state of emergency in the sector and set up a comprehensive agenda for the overhaul of the system.

To ensure the effective coordination of health personnel, facilities and service delivery, the government established the Hospital Services Management Board.

Governor Inuwa Yahaya was accompanied by the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Habu Dahiru.