Katsina to establish disease research centre

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State has disclosed that the state will establish a disease research centre to serve as a centre where researches will be conducted on new and strange disease plaguing the society.
Masari made the disclosure weekend while receiving the national and state executives of the Nigeria Medical Association ( NMA) who visited him at the Government House Katsina and conferred on him a merit award for his efforts in improving health care delivery in the state.
The governor noted that the establishment of the research centre has become imperative due to the state proximity to neighbouring Niger Republic and other state which he said makes it prone to strange diseases that may cross over from these areas.
Similarly, Masari further disclosed that the state will use the loan secured from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) by the state in improving, re-equipping and retraining of 136 primary health care centres.
He added that the loan secured from the development bank has a long moratorium, negligible interest rate and the debtor will be paying without feeling it, adding that the loan would be judicious used in the health care sector.
To bring health care delivery to the rural populace, the governor noted that community nurses will be train on the basic health care tips to assist them in attending to emergencies that will reduce mortality rates at grassroots.
Masari lamented that health care has suffered years of neglect in the state, noting that a lot of construction were carried out under the MDGs, SURE-P and other development partners in the health sector but with according to him no trained workers to man them.
Earlier in a remark, the Katsina NMA Chairman, Dr. Muhammad Usman Suleiman, vowed to check the activities of quacks and malpractices in the health care sector of the state.
He added that the governor was awarded the distinguished service award of the NMA because of his many interventions in the health sector of the state which he said assisted greatly in saving it from collapse.