Ogun State Ministry of Health has disclosed that more efforts were being put in place by the State Government to combat and flatten the curves of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in all parts of the State as over 42, 000 people have undergone the COVID test sampling, out of which 2, 300 were confirmed positive and 33 deaths recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic in the State.
This was just as the State Government is already fine tuning plans to explore the Public Private Partnership arrangements to engage interested private developmental partners for the effective runnings of the 250-bed hospital project along Oke Mosan road Abeokuta.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, stated this at the ongoing 2021 budget defence session held at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Coker explained that the State government had initiated measures to improve on the testing capacity carried out across the 20 Local Government Areas, adding that the State Government had received accolades for the massive testing which would reach a total of 50, 000 in the coming week resulting into 1% of the State population as required by regulatory bodies.
The Commissioner noted that the State was still running its various isolation centres and decided to close down those that were under utilized to properly utilize funds and manpower, explaining that it would review its COVID-19 operations in the first week of the next year for effective assessment of its various facilities.
Commenting on Primary Health Care facilities in the State, Coker said the present administration had rehabilitated a total of 21 Primary Health Care Centers (PHC), with another 21 undergoing renovation across the State, out of the total of 236 to be refurbished in the next fiscal year.
Presenting a total budget size of N4.5bn for the Ministry in the next fiscal year, out of which N2.9bn was earmarked for capital projects and N1.61bn for salaries and allowances while N63.6m was expected as revenue.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary, State Hospitals Management Board, Dr. Nafiu Aigoro submitted that repairs of health centres would gulp N925.6m and N460m would go for the construction of new and expansion of existing health facilities including dental centres across the State, with N743.9m earmarked for procurement of health and medical equipment for next year.
Aigoro explained that out of the total budget proposal of N6.2bn for the fiscal year, N2.61bn was to cater for capital expenditure, with the remaining N3.66bn for recurrent expenditure, just as N23.7m was expected as revenue in the next year.
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Abdul Balogun presented the 2021 budget proposal of the Ministry before the lawmakers with a promise to sustain a cleaner and healthier environment through continuous environmental sanitation and waste management system.
To achieve the foregoing, Balogun presented a total budget of N1.6bn consisting of N1.13bn to cater for capital expenditure, with N545.5m for recurrent expenditure and N192m expected as revenue.
The lawmakers also considered the proposed budget estimates of the State Waste Management Authority, State Environmental Protection Agency, State Emergency Management Agency, State Hospitals, Sokenu Ijaye, Abeokuta, Ilaro, Ota, Ijebu-Ode and Isara amongst others.
