Commissioning of General Hospital Charanchi and the emergency ambulance services

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

It is with profound gratitude to Almighty Allah that I stand before you today to commission a number of significant healthcare projects and interventions aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery and improving the wellbeing of our people. These include the General Hospital Charanchi, Katsina State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (SEMSAS), the revitalisation of Primary Healthcare Centres, 238 tricycle ambulances and 15 Advanced Life Support Ambulances.

The establishment of emergency medical and ambulance services represents an important milestone in our commitment to saving lives and ensuring timely access to emergency care. The Advanced Life Support Ambulances will provide specialised emergency care and patient stabilisation during transportation, while the tricycle ambulances will improve access to emergency transportation for people living in rural and hard-to-reach communities.

The newly established General Hospital Charanchi, developed through the upgrade of the former Comprehensive Health Centre, represents a major investment in secondary healthcare delivery. The project was executed at a total cost of ₦2,059,740,559.41 and is equipped to provide diagnostic, medical, surgical, maternity, emergency and other essential services to the people of Charanchi and neighbouring communities.

This is the fourth of six secondary healthcare facilities established by our administration. The General Hospitals in Faskari and Mai’adua are also at advanced stages of completion and are expected to be commissioned before the end of 2026, Insha Allah. Each of these hospitals is being provided with the necessary equipment and personnel to bring quality healthcare closer to our people and reduce delays in accessing appropriate medical attention.

Over the last three years, our administration has continued to invest substantially in healthcare infrastructure. These interventions include the ongoing re-establishment and construction of General Hospital Daura, renovation and upgrading of General Hospitals Kankara and Mani, and the completed modernisation of theatres at GARSH, TUYMCH and General Hospital Katsina.

We have also commenced the upgrade of the Intensive Care Unit at TUYMCH, completed and commissioned a 16-bed modern dialysis centre, developed an ultra-modern ophthalmology division at GARSH, and undertaken the renovation and revitalisation of more than 280 Comprehensive and Primary Healthcare Centres across the State.

In addition, Government is implementing the solarisation of hospitals to provide 24-hour electricity supply, while a pharmaceutical manufacturing centre is being established for the production of medicines and consumables. We are also constructing a state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic imaging centre at GARSH, which is expected to be commissioned before the end of 2026, Insha Allah.

Infrastructure development has been complemented with the provision of modern medical equipment, instruments and essential consumables. All four upgraded and recently commissioned General Hospitals have been equipped to support quality service delivery.

The theatres of our Specialist Hospitals have also received advanced equipment, including Colposcope, Laparoscopic Tower, Hysteroscope, Arthroscopic Tower and Fracture Bed, thereby expanding the State's capacity to provide specialised obstetric, gynaecological and orthopaedic services. Our specialist hospital laboratories have equally been equipped with modern diagnostic technologies.

At the Katsina Imaging and Cancer Hospital/Advanced Imaging and Multispecialty Centre, Government has provided highly sophisticated technologies, including a 3-Tesla MRI and Ethos Adaptive Therapy Machine, an AI-driven cancer treatment technology. The State is reported in the speech as being the first in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, to acquire the Ethos technology.

These investments are already producing tangible results. For the first time in the history of Katsina State, pacemaker and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) procedures have been successfully performed on five patients at GARSH. This achievement was supported by the provision of a modern C-Arm imaging system, which has further enhanced the capacity of our medical teams to undertake sophisticated cardiac, spinal, orthopaedic and other specialised procedures.

Recognizing that a strong healthcare system depends on qualified and motivated personnel, our administration has placed significant emphasis on recruitment, training and professional development. Over the last three years, 804 healthcare personnel have been recruited across various cadres.

For the first time in the history of Katsina State, postgraduate medical residency training has commenced in six departments across General Hospital Katsina, TUYMCH and GARSH. These departments are Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery and Radiology. This will enable the State to train its own specialists and future consultants while improving the retention of skilled medical professionals.

Government has also supported the accreditation of Dental Therapy Units in five hospitals comprising General Hospital Katsina, Kankia, Malumfashi, Dutsinma and Funtua—creating opportunities for professional internship training in Dental Therapy. In addition, five resident doctors have been sponsored for postgraduate studies within Nigeria and five medical officers for sub-specialisation training abroad.

Our commitment to human resource development also extends to undergraduate medical education. From 2023 to date, Government has expended ₦1,279,085,353.43 on the sponsorship of medical students, predominantly in Nigerian universities, with additional support for students studying abroad.

Government has awarded full scholarships to 41 medical students to study MBBS in Egypt, while subsequent batches have been sponsored for MBBS studies in Ethiopia, with another batch currently being recruited for studies in Russia.

The overarching objective of these interventions is to build a healthcare system supported by modern infrastructure, appropriate equipment, qualified personnel and sustainable institutional capacity, thereby improving access to quality healthcare and reducing the need for avoidable medical tourism.

I therefore call on the people of Katsina State to protect and support these investments and to work closely with our healthcare professionals and development partners to ensure their sustainability.

Finally, I commend all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, healthcare professionals, development partners and other stakeholders whose commitment and hard work have contributed to the successful delivery of these projects and programmes.

Together, we are building a stronger, more resilient and better-equipped healthcare system for Katsina State.

Thank you all.

Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.