Commissioning of General Hospital Dandume

Assalamu Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, and a very good afternoon to you all.

Today, we fulfill a promise. Alhamdulillah, we are gathered to commission the newly established General Hospital, Dandume. For the first time in the history of this area, a full-fledged secondary health facility has been built by our administration at a total cost of ₦2,246,456,336.26.

This facility will provide prompt diagnosis, manage complex medical and surgical conditions, and treat advanced diseases that previously required referrals outside Dandume. By eliminating these referral delays, we are directly reducing patient suffering and improving survival rates for the people of Dandume and neighboring communities. I thank the good people of Dandume for your patience and unwavering support.

Providing standard, accessible, and affordable healthcare remains a top priority of this administration. The commissioning of this hospital is a reflection of our broader, aggressive overhaul of the state’s health sector over the last three years.

To match the healthcare needs of our people, we have executed the following infrastructure projects:

1. Upgrades: We upgraded the Primary Health Centres in Kafur, Charanchi, Zango, and Dandume to General Hospitals. The upgrades for Mai’adua and Faskari are nearing completion. We are also re-establishing General Hospital Daura, and renovating General Hospitals Kankara and Mani.

2. Specialist Facilities: We have renovated and upgraded the operation theatres at GARSH, TUYMCH, and General Hospital Katsina with modern designs, and the ICU at TUYMCH is currently undergoing upgrade.

3. New Centers of Excellence: We completed a 16-bed modern dialysis center, the first of its kind in North-Western Nigeria. We are building an ultra-modern ophthalmology division to serve as a reference eye center, and a state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic imaging center at GARSH, also a first for the North-West. Furthermore, a pharmaceutical manufacturing center for drugs and consumables is about to be completed.

4. Primary Care & Power: We have renovated over 280 CHCs and PHCs across the state. To guarantee uninterrupted care, we are solarizing our hospitals, with 24/7 power supply already completed at General Hospitals Katsina and Kankia.

Infrastructure is only as effective as the equipment it houses. We have fully equipped the newly upgraded General Hospitals and specialist theatres with modern instruments, including laparoscopic towers, colposcopes, hysteroscopes, and arthroscopic towers—many available in our state facilities for the first time.

Our laboratories have been upgraded with high-tech equipment for precise diagnostics. At the advanced imaging center, we have procured a 3-Tesla MRI and the Ethos adaptive therapy machine. Katsina State is now the first state in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, to acquire this AI-driven cancer therapy machine.

Consequently, for the first time in the history of Katsina State, we have successfully carried out interventional cardiology services, including pacemaker and ICD implants, on five patients with advanced heart failure at GARSH, utilizing a newly procured C-arm machine.

We have recruited 804 healthcare personnel over the last three years. More importantly, we have commenced postgraduate medical residency training in six specialties (Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, and Radiology) across our three specialist hospitals. This followed my approval for the renovation of facilities and hosting of accreditation teams. Katsina State will now train and produce its own medical consultants.

We also accredited five pilot hospitals (Katsina, Kankia, Malumfashi, Dutsinma, and Funtua) for professional dental therapy internship training.

To sustain this momentum, the State Government sponsors young medical officers for postgraduate training. We have matched the training funds for resident doctors to the rates paid in Federal Teaching Hospitals. We are currently sponsoring five resident doctors for postgraduate studies within the country and five for sub-specialization abroad.

Since 2023, the government has paid ₦1,279,085,353.43 to support medical students in Nigerian and foreign universities. I have granted full MBBS scholarships in Egypt to 41 students (averaging one per Local Government), with subsequent batches sponsored to study in Ethiopia and Russia.

To alleviate the financial burden of healthcare, we sponsor free surgeries for all state residents suffering from typhoid perforation. Since August 2025, we have successfully operated on 500 patients free of charge, covering the ₦450,000 cost per patient for surgery, post-operative care, and medications.

Additionally, in collaboration with experts from Belgium, we sponsored the Revive Medical Mission. The first phase provided free surgical interventions for hundreds of patients. The second phase, which commenced in May 2026, focuses on the free treatment, prevention, and early detection of breast cancer across the state. These initiatives are designed to curb unnecessary medical tourism and improve the economic wellbeing of our citizens.

I urge the people of Dandume and neighboring communities to protect this facility, support it, and cooperate with the medical staff to ensure the sustained delivery of standard healthcare.

I commend all stakeholders, contractors, and health workers who worked tirelessly to ensure this project was completed to standard and on time.

Thank you, and Wassalamu Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.