The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), says it has concluded arrangements for the upgrade of the Jigawa state drug store.

The UNICEF project coordinator, Lourdes Eleana stated this at the inauguration of the project on Wednesday in Dutse.

According to Ms Eleana, the project will be implemented in collaboration with the federal ministry of health.

She said the project would be executed in four months in spite of time constraints, adding that a team of engineers from the federal and state Ministries of Health would assist towards its successful execution.

“As part of the project, offices will be build around the warehouse and the quality of staff will also be improved to cater for the warehouse when completed,” she said.

The UNICEF official sought the support of stakeholders to ensure the timely completion of the project.

The state commissioner for health, Muhammad Inuwa, said the warehouse helped in addressing the shortage of drug storage facilities in the state, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the wake of the pandemic, we borrowed space from hotels and some private organisations to store our consignment,” he said.

While commending the UNICEF for the gesture, Mr Inuwa pledged support to facilitate the smooth execution of the project.

The Jigawa government and UNICEF had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project.

(NAN)