The Federal Government of Nigeria has introduced a 50% subsidy on electricity costs for public hospitals nationwide.
This initiative was unveiled by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa, during a visit to the National Neo-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, Kaduna State, on Thursday.
During his visit, Alausa inaugurated several projects, including the Electronic Health Records system and an Alternative Power Supply at the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex.
He also launched a solarisation project at the dialysis unit, featuring a solar-powered borehole and a 10.2 KVA inverter at the Abdulkareem Jika Yusuf COVID-19 Intervention Centre.
The minister emphasized that the subsidy is designed to ease the financial burden on public hospitals and reduce the cost of care for patients.
In addition, Alausa announced plans to rebrand federal hospitals as Specialist Hospitals to enhance healthcare services and eliminate stigma associated with mental health facilities.
“We are going to change the names of our Federal Hospitals to Specialist Hospitals to expand care delivery and destigmatize hospitals so that everybody can come here. While the core services will remain psychiatric, this re-naming will allow for the continuous expansion of services,” he explained.
Alausa also addressed the ongoing resident doctors’ strike, noting that it is complicating efforts to secure the release of Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, who was abducted from the hospital’s staff quarters.
He urged calm and reassured the hospital’s management that efforts are being made to ensure her safe return.
