By Lamara Garba Azare
In Kano State, compassion has found structure. It has found funding. It has found direction. Under the leadership of Abba Kabir Yusuf, healthcare is no longer a privilege negotiated by wealth but a right strengthened by policy. What is unfolding across the state is more than reform. It is a moral commitment woven into governance. It is Abba Care.
At the heart of this transformation is the introduction of free antenatal care and free delivery services for pregnant women in public health facilities. For countless families, this single decision has lifted a burden carried in silence for years. Pregnancy, once shadowed by fear of hospital bills, is gradually becoming a journey supported by public responsibility.
A visit to Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in the heart of the city tells the story better than statistics ever could. The maternity sections are alive with movement. Pregnant women troop in daily for routine checks, scans, and medical consultations. The waiting areas are filled not with despair but with expectation. The large turnout reflects renewed trust in government facilities. It shows that when care is made accessible, citizens respond.
The visible reduction in maternal mortality in the state is not accidental. It is the natural outcome of access. When women attend antenatal clinics regularly, complications are detected early. When delivery takes place in properly equipped facilities under trained supervision, risks are reduced significantly. Lives are saved quietly, steadily, consistently.
But Abba Care goes beyond maternity services. Through the Abba Care initiative and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund interventions, free medical services are extended to pregnant women, children under five, sickle cell patients, the elderly aged 65 years and above, and persons living with disabilities. It embraces those who often stand at the fragile edges of society. It ensures that vulnerability does not translate into abandonment.
Beyond direct service delivery, the administration has deliberately strengthened and revitalised key health institutions. While the Kano Health Trust Fund and the Drug and Medical Consumables Supply Agency were already in existence before the present administration, they have received renewed direction and operational energy. When this government assumed office, drug availability in public health facilities through the Drug and Medical Consumables Supply Agency stood at below 30 percent. Today, availability has risen to over 95 percent, ensuring that patients who visit government hospitals are far more likely to receive the medicines prescribed to them. That shift has restored confidence in public facilities and reduced the burden of out of pocket spending.
Similarly, the Kano Health Trust Fund, once relatively unknown to many within the system, has now emerged as a strong pillar of support across the health sector. The Fund provides financial backing to primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities. It supports health related Ministries, Departments and Agencies and extends assistance to health training institutions. In doing so, it strengthens infrastructure, manpower development and service delivery across multiple layers of care.
Most significantly, the recent passage into law of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control has positioned the state as a pioneer in sub national health security, making Kano the first in Nigeria to establish such a structure with regulatory authority over communicable and non communicable diseases. Together, these institutions form a coordinated framework that reinforces the government’s commitment to quality, accessible and resilient healthcare delivery.
Speaking on the mandate of the Centre, the Director General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control, Muhammad Adamu Abbas, described the establishment of the agency as a defining milestone in the state’s public health journey. He explained that the KNCDC is not only designed to respond to outbreaks but to strengthen surveillance systems, coordinate rapid response teams, regulate disease control programmes and deepen community engagement on prevention. According to him, the agency has already undertaken case management activities, public sensitization campaigns and field investigations in communities where suspected cases of infectious diseases were reported, reaffirming its readiness to act swiftly and professionally. Professor Abbas reiterated the agency’s commitment to building a healthier Kano through preparedness, transparency, scientific evidence and strong collaboration with partners and stakeholders.
Even more reassuring is the Kano State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, known as KN SEMSAS. This system provides free emergency response and treatment to victims of automobile accidents, gunshot wounds, violent attacks and other critical situations. Pregnant women in distress, patients with hypertension, HIV patients and individuals battling terminal illnesses are attended to without hesitation over payment. In moments where seconds matter, government intervention becomes the difference between survival and tragedy.
The circle of compassion widens further. Inmates of correctional and rehabilitation homes, as well as elderly residents in Shahuci homes, are also beneficiaries of free medical services. These are citizens who might otherwise be forgotten in policy conversations. Yet under this administration, they are remembered. They are included. They are protected.
There is philosophy in this approach. A government reveals its character by how it treats the weakest among its people. When the elderly can access treatment without fear of cost, dignity is restored to aging. When children under five receive free care, the foundation of the future is strengthened. When persons living with disabilities are covered, inclusion becomes practical rather than rhetorical.
Indeed, it is worthy to note that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s style of leadership reflects calm resolve. He does not shout about compassion. He institutionalizes it. Abba Care is not charity. It is structured empathy translated into sustainable intervention. It recognizes that public office is a trust and that power must bend toward protection of life.
In communities across Kano, families now speak with relief rather than anxiety. A father no longer calculates whether he can afford treatment for his sick child. A mother no longer postpones clinic visits due to registration fees. An elderly citizen aged 65 and above walks into a health facility knowing that age has not reduced his worth in the eyes of government.
Healthcare reform often appears technical on paper, filled with acronyms and budgets. Yet on the ground, it is deeply human. It is the smile of a discharged patient. It is the cry of a newborn delivered safely. It is the quiet gratitude of a grandmother whose blood pressure is managed without financial strain.
Perhaps Abba Care represents a broader belief that development must begin with people. Roads and buildings matter, but healthy citizens matter more. Therefore, by investing in maternal health, emergency services, chronic illness care and protection for the vulnerable, Kano State is shaping a future anchored in human wellbeing.
Since the introduction of this policy, the impact is visible. The confidence is growing. The trust between government and the governed is deepening.
More importantly, in safeguarding mothers, children, the elderly, the sick and the marginalized, Kano safeguards tomorrow. Proudly, Abba Care stands not merely as a policy but as a living reminder that leadership, when guided by humility and compassion, can touch lives in the most profound ways.
Lamara Garba Azare, a veteran journalist, writes from Kano.