The Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has said that his administration would sponsor any qualified indigene in the state wishing to study medicine and other health-related courses in and outside the country.
The governor announced this while addressing members of the state’s chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), who paid him a visit at the Government House, Gusau on Saturday.
He said that the sponsorship was part of the measures his administration was taking to address the challenges bedevilling the health sector in the state. He explained that the idea was to enable qualified indigenes of the state to take up the medicine and other health related courses.
The governor, during his inaugural speech, promised to provide free medical care for women and children, adding, “This can effectively be achieved through the provision of adequate professional manpower that will handle the healthcare service delivery and other facilities.”
The governor, however, promised to look into the request by members of the association for the state government to implement the revised CONMESS Salary Structure of the state medical doctors.
He assured them that the state government would continue to work closely with members of the association to upgrade the state health sector to an international standard for the benefit of the citizens.
He said already, he has directed the state Ministry of Health to forward to him, the data of all public hospitals and their needs with a view to upgrade and equip them with state-of-the earth equipment.
The state Chairman of the association, Dr. Kabiru Musa, said that they were at the Government House to congratulate the governor over his victory as governor at the 2019 general elections and to pray for his wisdom and success from God.
The chairman also drew the attention of the governor on the exodus of medical personnel to even neighbouring states due to salary disparity, inadequate facilities in most of the state secondary healthcare centres and weak health institutions which contribute in worsening the state health indices especially as regards maternal and child health.