Abba Yusuf approves overseas master’s programmes for Kano health workers

Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, has approved the sponsorship of some doctors and nurses in the state for master’s programmes in clinical medicine abroad.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ibrahim Adam, special adviser on information to Yusuf, said the initiative is part of the governor’s ongoing efforts to bolster the healthcare system in Kano.

He said the sponsorship will cover professionals with a bachelor of science (BSc) degree in relevant medical fields.

Adam said the scholarship is intended to equip Kano’s healthcare professionals with advanced knowledge and specialised skills to address the rising health needs of the state’s growing population.

The courses approved for the foreign master’s programme include dermatology, nephrology, intensive care medicine, dialysis technology and care, kidney transplant surgery, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

Others are plastic and reconstructive surgery, paediatric surgery, neurology, ENT (ear, nose, and throat), psychiatry, dialysis nursing, and dialysis biomedical engineering.

Additional specialities include interventional cardiology, interventional orthopaedics, interventional radiology, cancer care for nurses and oncologists, prosthetics, ophthalmic nursing, and ophthalmology.

In April, Yusuf paid N2.5 billion to clear outstanding fees owed by 84 scholars from the state to Near East University in Cyprus.

The scholars of medicine and nursing had graduated between 2015 and 2019.

However, their certificates were withheld by the university due to outstanding fees owed by the state government.

They secured the scholarships when Abdullahi Ganduje, former national chair of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was governor of the state.