Niger State shuts 26 illegal hospitals, 25 medicine stores

The Niger State Government on Wednesday said it had closed down 26 illegal hospitals and 25 medicine stores for sham medical practice and dealings in fake drugs.

Commissioner for Health and Hospital Services, Dr. Ibrahim Sule, stated this in Minna while addressing journalists on the activities of the ministry, saying 10 of the private hospitals were permanently closed while the activities of the remaining 16 were being investigated by experts from the ministry.

Sule said, “The doctors operating the shut hospitals are not qualified to practice and those caught have been handed over to relevant authorities for appropriate actions.

“In 2011 alone, 320 private hospitals were registered in the state and the figure has risen to 360 this year.”
Sule, while expressing the determination of the government to eradicate the sale of fake drugs in the state, explained that 25 patent medicine stores had been closed for selling fake drugs in the State.

“The state hospitals have been repositioned to adequately provide medical services to the people; they have been fully equipped while 168 doctors were in the employment,” he said.

He added that two new hospitals would be built in the Lemu and Agwara areas of the state this year.
Sule warned quarks to stay off the health sector in the state, adding that the  government was determined to root them out of the state.

- The Citizen

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