Kaduna State Government is to spend over N11 billion this year to improve health care services, the Commissioner for Health, Mr Turaki Kalik has said.
Kalik said while defending the budget at the State House of Assembly on Friday that, N4 billon of the amount would be spent on capital projects while N6.1 billion would be for recurrent expenditure.
Kalik said part of the amount would be used to upgrade some primary health centres, as well as the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital being upgraded to a teaching hospital.
He said the recurrent budget size when compared to 2012, had risen from N5.5 billion to N6.7 billion, due to plans to recruit more doctors, nurses and other health workers.
He said the ministry had established a monitoring and evaluation department to supervise health workers and healthcare facilities.
He added that the state had provided N1 billion to fund the new free health services programme for children and pregnant women.
The Chairman, House Committee on Health, Alhaji Shehu Adamu expressed satisfaction with the ministry's presentation.
Adamu assured that the assemby would appropriate the funds requested in order to enhance healthcare delivery in the state.
In a related development, the state government said it would spend N5.6 billion on the digitisation of its broadcast stations, and an additional N341 million for other works on the state radio.
The Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Saidu Adamu said while defending the budget of the ministry at the assembly that the aim was to fully equip the stations to provide quality services to the people. (NAN)
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