The Kano State Government, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Dangote Foundation on Wednesday signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to boost healthcare delivery in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the MoU, tagged: “Health Basket Fund,” was designed to strengthen child health and address issues of maternal mortality in the state.
NAN reports that the two foundations had in 2012 signed a similar MoU with the state government on strategic eradication of Polio Mellitus in Kano, which ran between 2012 and 2015, but was further extended to 2016.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, while signing the MoU in Kano, said the tripartite agreement would address the issue of maternal mortality and child related issues.
Ganduje said his administration would inject N350 million into the programme as counterpart funding, adding that the agreement would last for five years.
Also, Bill Gates, speaking through a video conferencing, monitored at the ceremony, commended the state government on the success of routine immunisation and called for improvement.
Gates said that his foundation was determined to eradicate polio and other related diseases in Nigeria, Africa and the world in general through partnership with various states and countries.
In his remarks, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, thanked the Gates Foundation for its commitment to polio eradication and commended the efforts of the traditional rulers and other stakeholders in fighting the scourge.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabiru Getso, said the two foundations would contribute 40 per cent each to the programme, while the state government would contribute 20 per cent.
NAN.
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