The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has handed over the renovated and expanded DISO Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State to the Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Board (SPHCMB).
The intervention is part of efforts to strengthen health infrastructure and improve access to quality primary healthcare services in the state.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Kano, Shafeeq Ur-Rehman, urged community leaders and residents to take ownership of the facility and ensure its proper maintenance and sustainability.
The DISO PHC is one of five healthcare facilities renovated under a Global Fund-supported programme implemented by UNICEF.
Ur-Rehman said sustained community engagement was essential to protecting investments in healthcare and ensuring that the facilities continued to serve present and future generations.
He urged stakeholders to ensure proper maintenance of the infrastructure, adequate staffing with skilled health workers, regular availability of medicines, vaccines and other essential supplies, as well as continuous monitoring of service delivery.
According to him, stronger community ownership would improve the quality and sustainability of primary healthcare services.
He also commended the partnership between UNICEF, the Kano State Government and the SPHCMB, saying the project demonstrated what could be achieved when governments, development partners and communities worked together.
Ur-Rehman expressed appreciation to the Global Fund for its continued investment in strengthening health infrastructure and service delivery.
He reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to supporting Kano State in strengthening its primary healthcare system and improving the health and well-being of children, women and families.
The renovated facility includes an expanded delivery room, laboratory, consultation room, nurses’ station, male and female wards, and separate male and female toilets for persons with disabilities, among other improvements.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the SPHCMB, Prof. Salisu Ibrahim, represented by the Director of Administration, Adamu Fate, commended UNICEF for the intervention.
Fate said the renovation of the DISO PHC and similar projects across the state would contribute to improving the quality of primary healthcare delivery.
He thanked UNICEF and its partners for their continued support towards strengthening healthcare infrastructure and services in Kano State.
The Ward Head of DISO Ward, Ahmed Bello, also commended UNICEF and its partners for the intervention and assured that the community would take responsibility for protecting and maintaining the facility.
He said residents would do everything possible to keep the health centre functional and ensure it continued to provide quality healthcare services to the community.
