THE Anambra State government has said it is committed to providing quality healthcare delivery to Anambra people.

Joe Akabuike, the commissioner for Health, said during an interactive session with newsmen at his office at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka.

He stressed that government had not left non in doubt as to its commitment toward improved healthcare for the people of Anambra.

Akabuike said he had been privileged to be in the vanguard of the working governor of Anambra, who he said had continued with the same momentum of many achievements.

The commissioner said that he was lucky to be among the few commissioners that served in the first tenure and then, retained in the ongoing tenure by Governor Willie Obiano.

According to him, we started out with improving the primary healthcare centres; that is the first level in the healthcare project.

“We started the primary healthcare development agency since 2014, as of 2018 we have fully implemented the primary healthcare under one roof and it is fully functional.

“States that have functional Primary Healthcare Development Agency, PHCDA, are entitled to 500,000 dollars (Five hundred thousand US dollar) through `Saving One Million Lives Programme’ for Results, SOMLP for R, under Federal Ministry of Health.

“And Anambra State is now qualified to receive the 500,000 dollars.

He added: “the secondary healthcare level under Obiano administration has a target of upgrading three General Hospitals in three senatorial zones across the state to Specialist Hospitals.

“The Enugwu-Ukwu General Hospital is at 40 percent completion, Onitsha General Hospital now at 90 percent completion and Ekwulobia General Hospital at 75 percent completion.’’

The health commissioner stressed that Obiano had continued with the projects started in the first tenure.

“We inherited almost dilapidated general hospitals, for instance, we have continued renovations of community general hospitals.

“The Anaku General Hospital, Nawgu General Hospital and Mbaukwu General Hospital have been fully renovated and inaugurated,’’ Akabuike emphasised.

He said that at the tertiary level, the state has two Teaching hospitals; one is Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi and the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, COOUTH, Awka.

Akabuike noted that the current administration had secured the fourth, the fifth Nigerian Dental and Medical Council accreditation, NDMC, and then graduated the first set of medical students.

“This year we have graduated the fourth set of the medical students from the hospital. You know before now that the first set of students waited for 10 years to graduate.

“The Institution has gone beyond training under graduate doctors; this time around we have got accreditation for training doctors will go ahead to qualify as specialists,’’ he added.

Akabuike said that government had approved the purchase of 64 Slice Ct Scan equipment, the highest level in the country.

He also said that government has been able to install diagnostic equipment that would make the COOUTH to be world class teaching hospital.

“From 2018 to date, this government has done what we call `Health Reforms with the Health Insurance Scheme’ – the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, ASHA.

“One good thing about this initiative is that, it is not political but a legacy project that will continue to exist even after the current administration.

“We have formed a private, public partnership with some companies. We also have what we call `Community Government Partnership with the management of hospitals in the state.

“We believed that, if the communities begin to have interest in their own hospitals then the service will improve,’’ Akabuike emphasised.

However, Akabuike said that Obiano good policies have attracted people that partnered with the state government.

“We have the Challenge Initiatives, it is actually from UK, and they are partnering with Anambra Government on birth-Control.

“The UK partnership has helped in renovating majority of the healthcare centres in the state.

“While we are focused on achieving all these, we also faced some challenges and the notable one is flooding. As you know floodwaters covered many communities in the state at a certain point.

He added: “our ministry was able to send health workers to the flood-ravaged areas and within that period, we recorded 27 deliveries and treated no fewer than 1,500 patients’’.

The next problem we faced was the fire incident that occurred at the Enugwu-Ukwu General Hospital that engulfed the mortuary at which about 90 corpses got burnt.

“But we were able to deploy forensic pathologies to identify the corpses; about 50 of such dead bodies were identified.

“Then we sent other bodies for DNA testing, so as to be able to identify them.

“Usually we had what we call implementing partners, we get them mainly in the primary healthcare, and they assist with immunisation like European Union, EU.

“We also have support from Save One Million Life in a schedule between the World Bank and the Federal Government.

“World Health Organisation, WHO, also helped us with data collection and processing in the state,’’ he explained.

Akabuike said that Anambra State took first position in a routine immunisation exercise that is counting the number of people that were immunised.

“We are also first in one skill combat exercise, 97 participated and we have remained unbeaten till date.

“We have had a lot of partnership from Indigenous and foreign partners, apart from the Indian Medical team that came to treat our people last year at which they treated no fewer than 1,000 patients.’’

He added: “the best thing that happened was that they left us all the equipment they brought along; we have attracted a lot of people from home and abroad coming to support and offer free Medicare.

“We have Umuokpu from U.S. that came with equipment worth about 5 million dollars which they donated to the COOUTH, Awka as well as then Iyienu Teaching Hospital.

“Anambra is an investment destination; the sponsors have noticed that once they give out medical equipment, it’s going to be used properly.

“We also have partnership with Nigerian Medical Association.’’

– Feb. 22, 2019 @ 14:15 GMT |