The Chief Medical Director of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Professor Ahmed Ahidjo, has urged the Federal Government to invest the savings made from the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol in subsidising the health sector.
He was speaking at a news conference, Monday, July 17, as part of the activities marking the teaching hospital’s 40th anniversary.
“Healthcare institutions have now been forced to bear heavier expenses than they can normally afford, especially on drugs, electricity, and other essential services,” Prof Ahidjo complained.
The CMD complained that UMTH received N39m monthly bill from the electricity distribution agency, which contrasts with the only N40m the hospital generates monthly.
Prof Ahidjo said running standby generators costs the hospital between N60m and N70m monthly.
“So I think the health sector should be subsidised,” he said.
Prof Ahidjo said the teaching hospital has in the last 40 years grown from a 300-bed facility to a 1200-bed one, remarking that it has made an immense positive impact on not only the North-East region but also extended its services to students from Chad, Cameroon and Niger republics.