FG Approves 50% Electricity Subsidy For Public Hospitals

The Federal Government has approved a 50 percent subsidy for electricity tariff in public hospitals across the country.

This was announced by Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa, 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 solar project at the dialysis unit comprising a solar powered borehole backed by a 10.2 ova inverter which comes with a lithium battery at Abdulkareem Jika Yusuf COVID-19 Intervention Centre at the psychiatric hospital.

He said: “We are going to change the name of the Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital to Specialist Hospital to expand care delivery and digitalise the hospital so that everybody can come here, though the core services will still be psychiatric, but then changing the nomenclature give it the liberty to continuously expand the services.

Alausa, who expressed confidence in the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Aishatu Armiyau, said: “The success in the hospital is a testimony to what our President, Bola Tinubu, promised Nigerians during his campaign.”

Also, at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, the minister commissioned Dr. G.O. Adejor Optical Showroom and Dr. M.B. Alhassan Diagnostic and Laser Unit.

Earlier, the acting Chief Medical Director of the Eye Centre, Aminatu Abdulrahman, said the National Eye Centre was established in 1979 with a mandate to provide specialist eye care services, training of manpower 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 Federal Capital Territory as well as neighbouring countries

She said the eye centre which has 650 staff; 369 (clinical) and 281 (non-clinical) staff has about 53,406 out patients that have been attended to and 4,653 surgeries were performed in 2023.

However, while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the commissioning, the minister said the warning strike by the doctors was complicating issues for the release of the kidnapped doctor from the eye centre, but assured them that the abducted doctor will be released soon.

On mass exodus of medical staff to other nations of the world, he said there is a strategy on engaging medical personnel in the diaspora.

He, however, assured them 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 enrolment from N24,000 annually to N100,000.