The Kano State Government has sanctioned more than 100 private health facilities and shut down 35 others over various regulatory violations in the state within the past 12 months.
The Acting Director-General of the Kano State Private Health Institutions Management Agency (PHIMA), Hajiya Khadijah Sa’id, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Tuesday.
Sa’id explained that the enforcement measures were aimed at ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations, maintaining professional standards and protecting residents from unsafe medical practices.
According to her, some of the major violations uncovered during routine inspections included operating without valid licences, failure to renew annual registrations and employing unqualified personnel.
She noted that while some facilities were temporarily shut down to enable their operators to correct identified lapses, establishments found guilty of serious violations could face permanent delisting.
The PHIMA chief further warned that proprietors of delisted facilities could be barred from registering another health facility using their professional licences.
She explained that the agency’s regulatory responsibilities covered private hospitals, clinics, nursing and maternity homes, diagnostic laboratories, dental centres, beauty salons, spas, fitness centres and practitioners of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine.
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Sa’id added that PHIMA was working with other government agencies and security operatives to identify and shut down illegal health facilities operating across the state.
She cited an instance in which an inter-agency task force established by Governor Abba Yusuf reportedly discovered a clinic that had previously been sealed and delisted by the agency but had reopened at another location.
The acting director-general said the agency was strengthening its inspection activities across Kano State’s 44 local government areas to ensure that healthcare providers complied with licensing requirements and professional standards.
She also identified inadequate funding and a shortage of operational vehicles as challenges affecting the agency’s enforcement efforts, noting that additional resources would improve inspection coverage.
Sa’id urged private healthcare operators to obtain the necessary licences, renew their registrations promptly and ensure that only qualified professionals provide healthcare services.
The development underscores the state government’s efforts to strengthen healthcare regulation and hold private medical facilities accountable for violations that could endanger public health.
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