The Niger Government on Wednesday said it had concluded arrangements to employ 267 healthcare workers as part of efforts to boost the health sector in the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Makun Sidi, disclosed this when he led the state’s Health Care Financing Technical Working Committee on an advocacy visit to the state’s House of Assembly.
He said “last year, we had approval to engage 110 health workers, out of which, 30 were doctors.
“This year, we would recruit 267, out of which, five would be consultants.
“Suffice to say that today, Niger has 18 consultants in different areas of specialisation as against few years ago when we had four or five.”
The permanent secretary, who noted that the remuneration of health workers in the state was poor, appealed for improvement in that regard.
According to him, the General Hospital, Minna, records 600 child deliveries
monthly.
Sidi said the executive would send a bill seeking to domesticate the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the state.
The Health Care Financing Technical Working Committee then appointed the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa, as champion of the State Health Insurance Scheme.
In his remarks, the Speaker assured that the bill would be passed into law in record time when it was presented to the House.
Marafa maintained that the domestication of the NHIS had become necessary, as health issues were capital intensive. (NAN)
AMEN/JPE/HA
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