JOE Akabuike, the Anambra State commissioner for Health, has applauded Governor Willie Obiano on his effort at transforming the primary healthcare sub-sector.

This has been clearly evident through the establishment of Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, ASPHCDA.

Akabuike made the commendation in his office at Awka, while answering questions from newsmen on Obiano’s scorecard in the health sector over the last four years.

According to him ASPHCDA now operates with clearly defined roles.

The health commissioner noted that prior to the establishment of ASPHCDA; the primary healthcare was managed at the Local Government Areas, without clearly defined roles.

He added that this scenario led to dilapidation of about 520 primary healthcare centres across the state.

Akabuike recounted how the primary healthcare sector was being operated with no policy guidelines or direction and no structures.

However, in order to tackle this anomaly, Akabuike said that government concentrated on health reforms that included renovation of hospitals and primary healthcare centres, and “equipping them and ensuring that qualified personnel are there by training and retraining them.”

“Government has achieved a lot through the blueprint of the health sector, which basically addressed the issue of primary healthcare, secondary and tertiary levels,” Akabuike said.

“The first thing this government did was to draft a bill that was passed into law, establishing Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

“The essence of the Agency is to have the entire primary healthcare under a roof, thereby institutionalising it in the state.

“This will make it possible to be managed centrally with Ministry of Health carrying out oversight functions,’’ he said.

Akabuike explained that “at the secondary level,’’ of Obiano’s led-government was trying to uplift three General Hospitals to specialist levels, to argument the only two specialist hospitals in the state.

The hospitals are General Hospital, Onitsha, Enugwu Ukwu and Ekwulobia.

Meanwhile, the General Hospital, Onitsha is almost completed, while work is still ongoing at the other two hospitals.

He added that they would act as referral centres to health centres.

The health commissioner, then, scored Obiano high on other aspects of healthcare delivery.

He noted that the mandate of Obiano was to give Anambra people quality healthcare in its entirety that would be comparable with any standard health system in the world.

– Mar. 3, 2018 @ 4:20 GMT |