Universal Health Coverage: Gombe Inaugurates Agency For Drugs And Medical Consumables
In an effort to attaining universal health coverage, Gombe State Government has officially flagged off its newly established Drugs and Medical Consumables Management Agency to ensure effective production, management and administration of drugs and medical consumables in the state.
Speaking while flagging off the agency together with an orientation course for health workers from secondary health facilities, the State’s Commissioner for Health Dr Habu Ɗahiru, said the agency will help actualize the state’s vision of attaining effective universal health coverage.
“The whole world is gearing towards universal health coverage which was just celebrated last week on 12th December. This can only be achieved if our facilities have adequate drugs and consumables. Now with the establishment of the Gombe State Drugs and Consumables Management Agency, our goal in this direction to lower the cost of healthcare in the state, promote and encourage proper health seeking behavior will be achieved”.
Dr Habu Ɗahiru equally maintained that the agency will help provide enough drugs for patients in the state, a development he said will improve the standards of living of the citizenry.
The Commissioner called for synergy between and among health agencies in the state for the success of the baby agency in ensuring effective healthcare service delivery.
He charged participants to actively partake in the orientation course, to familiarize themselves with the operational guidelines of the new drug agency.
In his address of welcome, the Executive Secretary of the Gombe State State Drugs and Medical Consumables Management Agency Pharmacist Caleb Faransa, said establishment of the agency marks a new journey for the betterment of the health sector in Gombe State.
He said “Today, the Gombe State Drugs and Medical Consumables Management Agency has come to stay, driven by the desire to achieve one of the objectives of universal health coverage by ensuring access to quality assured and most affordable medicines in a very consistent manner”.
He appreciated the efforts of the Gombe State Hospital Management Board for the key roles it played in the realization of the new drugs and medical consumables agency.
While assuring that the new agency will facilitate the provision of affordable and qualitative drugs to the common man, the executive secretary added that it was a national strategy which Gombe State has keyed in; that every state’s drugs and medical consumables be handled by an agency that is administratively and financially autonomous, to reposition the system for better service delivery.
He added that the one day orientation course focussed on secondary health facilities, while that for the primary health facilities will come up when modalities are fully in place.
In their goodwill messages, the Executive Secretary (E.S) of the Gombe State Hospitals Management Board Dr Bala Lawan, E.S Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr Abdulrahman Shuaibu, representative of the E.S Gombe State Healthcare Contributory Agency (GoHealth) and the representative of the traditional institution, the Overseeing District Head of Gombe Alhaji Usman Shettima, commended the foresight and commitments of the state governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for establishing the agency, which they said will majorly benefit the common man.
Alhaji Usman Shettima particularly appreciated the state government for the initiative and similar others towards repositioning the health sector.
While appreciating the commitment of the state’s health workers, the traditional leader charged citizens to support the new agency to effectively deliver on its mandates.
By Yunusa Isa Gombe and Fatima Abubakar.
