Radda Commissions First General Hospital in Katsina LG

Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, has commissioned the first General Hospital in Zango Local Government Area, while also announcing plans to establish a pharmaceutical manufacturing centre in the state.

The governor inaugurated the facility on Thursday as part of efforts by his administration to expand access to quality healthcare services across Katsina State.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Kaula Mohammed, on Thursday, August 6.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Radda described the project as a historic milestone, noting that the hospital would reduce the burden on residents who previously travelled long distances to access secondary healthcare.

“For the first time in the history of this local government, our people will access quality secondary healthcare without traveling long distances,” the governor said.

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He explained that the facility, upgraded from a Comprehensive Health Centre, has been equipped with modern diagnostic and treatment equipment to provide medical and surgical services.

Radda said healthcare delivery remained a priority of his administration, adding that four health facilities in Kafur, Charanchi, Zango and Dandume had been upgraded to General Hospitals within the last three years, while similar projects in Mai’adua and Faskari were nearing completion.

The governor also disclosed that reconstruction work was ongoing at General Hospital Daura, while General Hospitals Kankara and Mani were undergoing renovation.

According to him, his administration has strengthened specialist healthcare services through the renovation of operating theatres at General Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital, Turai Yar’adua Maternal and Children Hospital, and General Hospital Katsina.

He announced the establishment of a 16-bed Dialysis Centre, which he described as one of the most advanced in the North-West, alongside the ongoing construction of an ultra-modern Ophthalmology Division at General Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital.

Radda said more than 280 Primary and Comprehensive Healthcare Centres had also been renovated across the state, with solar power installations completed at General Hospitals Katsina and Kankia to improve electricity supply.

The governor further revealed plans to establish Katsina’s first pharmaceutical manufacturing centre to produce drugs and medical consumables locally.

“These investments are deliberate. Our goal is a healthcare system that serves every citizen, no matter where they live,” Radda said.

On healthcare manpower development, he said his administration had recruited 804 healthcare professionals in three years and secured accreditation for six specialist hospitals to run postgraduate residency training programmes in Paediatrics, Surgery, Internal Medicine, Radiology, Family Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

He added that funding had been approved for the accreditation of Dental Therapy Units in five General Hospitals to enable internship training.

The governor also announced further investment in medical education, disclosing that 41 state-sponsored MBBS students in Egypt were currently in their third year, while another batch had been sent to Ethiopia.

He said a third batch of medical students would soon be sponsored to Russia.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Musa Adamu Funtua, described the commissioning of the hospital as another milestone in the administration’s healthcare transformation agenda.

Funtua said the project reflected the government’s commitment to expanding access to affordable and people-centred healthcare services, particularly in rural communities.

The Katsina State APC Chairman, Dr. Bashir Gambo Saulawa, commended the governor for upgrading health facilities and employing more healthcare workers, saying the new hospital would improve services for women, children and expectant mothers.

Speaking on behalf of Zango residents, the Chairman of Zango Local Government Council, Hon. Babangida Aliyu Yardaje, thanked the governor for fulfilling his promise to establish the first General Hospital in the area.

Yardaje described the project as a historic intervention that would reduce the need for residents to seek medical care outside the local government area and improve healthcare access for the people.