Delta Spent N789M On Drugs In 2011 -Commissioner

Delta government says it spent N789.8 million to purchase drugs and other medical consumables for its healthcare services in 2011.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Otumara, disclosed this at a press conference in Asaba on Thursday.

He said the drugs were distributed to public hospitals and clinics through the state’s Drug Revolving Fund during the period under review.

Otumara said that of the amount, N639 million was used to buy drugs and pharmaceuticals for the free maternal healthcare programme and rural health scheme in the state.

He announced that Asaba General Hospital project would soon be completed and inaugurated, adding that it would reduce the current congestion and pressure on the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in the city.

He, however, stated that drugs valued at N150.8 million were still being held in stock in the hospitals and central medical stores.

Otumara said the medical incentives provided by the government for the citizens had greatly increased the number of persons accessing medical care in the state.

He said 652,924 out-patients and 66,615 in-patients were recorded in all the public health facilities in the state, during the period.

He said that maternal mortality ratio in the state dropped dramatically to 22 per 100,000 live births in 2011 as against 276 per 100,000 live births in 2010.

The commissioner disclosed that the state government spent more than N2 billion in the prosecution of its health programmes, particularly the free maternal, child healthcare and rural healthcare schemes, in the last four years.

“The state government expenditure on hospitals, outside salaries and allowances, is well over N6.5 billion.

“Besides, the present administration has since 2007, also spent more than N1 billion to assist people for treatment in Nigeria and abroad.’’

Otumara, who admitted that hospitals in the state lacked adequate manpower, blamed it on the large number of hospitals and insufficient funds but said that the issue was being addressed.

“We are making efforts to look at areas of need and fill them because most of the medical personnel are retiring and those vacancies need to be filled.

“But currently, the government pays about N600 million monthly to its hospitals management board alone and if you multiply this figure by 12 it amounts to N7.2 billion and that is the annual money to that sector”, he also said.