Kaduna State Government on Sunday justified the N400 000 cost of diagnosing and treating a COVID-19 patient in the state as earlier disclosed by the state governor, Nasir El-Rifai
The state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Baloni in a statement said that it actually costs the government more than N400,000 to diagnose and treat a COVID-19 patient.
She explained that the amount mentioned includes ‘’the healthcare infrastructure that supports the capacity to trace, test and treat”.
According to her, the total cost of treating a COVID-19 patient as well as the renovation of and equipping the four treatment centres and the surveillance of his or her contacts for 14 days amount to N436,457.
The statement added that pre-admission services, which include Diagnostic Test kits like specimen bottle and swab sticks costs N21,650 per patient.
Furthermore, she said Personal Protective Equipment for testing, especially gloves, disposable gowns and face masks cost N2,400,’’ Dr. Baloni added.
The cost of evacuating the patient to the treatment facility, costs N3,500 while feeding and COVID-19 support medication cost N24,000.
The statement also disclosed that the state also bears the cost of pre-morbid drugs, complications and Personal Protective Equipment, costing, N6,000, N6,000 and N48,000 respectively.
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According to Dr. Baloni, the administration also foots personnel costs, pays cleaning agents, cost of laundry, incineration, equipment, fueling and other utilities, amounting to N77,000.
She said COVID-19 follow-up tests, including Test kit cost N20,000, while VTM costs N800, specimen bottle and swab sticks cost N200 and N650 respectively, totalling N43, 300.
The commissioner also revealed that surveillance of a COVID-19 patient costs N3,500 and the tests for five primary contacts (Test kit-N20,000, VTM-N800, Specimen bottle-N200, Swab sticks-N650) cost N108, 250, all costs borne by the government.
