Kano govt laments as hospital workers, patients steal free drugs

The Kano State Government has raised concerns over reports that healthcare workers and beneficiaries of its free drugs program are collaborating to divert medication intended for vulnerable patients, undermining the effectiveness of the initiative.

Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, the Kano State Commissioner of Health, highlighted the issue at a stakeholders’ engagement event organized by the Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI).

He stated that the collusion between health workers and patients was a “very serious issue that is hindering the process of the program.”

According to him, “A lot of people, both from the workers and the beneficiaries of the program, they connive to steal the drugs, which is a sort of depriving person who really needs the drugs from getting the services,” Yusuf said.

“This is one of the problems that we are addressing, and we have succeeded greatly, but still, there are some pockets of thefts in facilities.”

In an effort to curb these incidents, Yusuf explained that the state is moving toward an electronic-based record system to monitor drug distribution. “We are going to make all our records electronic-based and make provision of what we call utilization registers,” he noted.

“Whoever comes to the hospital to access service, it will be documented with name, address, phone numbers so that we can always cross-check to make sure that the number we provide is the number that accesses the services.”

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Yusuf also expressed concerns over the low turnout of women attending antenatal and postnatal care, especially in rural communities. According to him, this reluctance significantly contributes to high maternal mortality rates in Kano and other parts of northern Nigeria.

“The implication of women not coming for antenatal care and for delivery is untimely death,” Yusuf explained.

“If you do not access humans in pregnancy, you cannot plan for delivery, and unplanned deliveries are usually the ones that come with complications and issues, which mostly occur in remote areas that you cannot even transport the woman to the center she should be taken care of.”

He noted that the state government had conducted a year-long study, including verbal autopsies, to determine actual maternal mortality figures across communities. “These contribute to high maternal mortalities in the whole northern part of Nigeria and Kano in particular. We have seen that,” he said, adding that the government is planning comprehensive improvements based on the findings.

To address these issues, Kano State has embarked on a statewide renovation of health facilities and the recruitment of health workers to create safer, more conducive environments for healthcare, particularly for maternal services.

Senior Technical Advisor for CCSI, Oluyemi Abodunrin, added that the stakeholder meeting aimed to review and assess Kano’s policies on women’s health, especially regarding their impact on the health of women and young girls in the state.

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