ANSG is committed to good healthcare delivery -Health Commissioner

Anambra State Government says it is committed to providing quality healthcare delivery to Ndi Anambra. Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike, said this during an interactive session with newsmen at his office at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka.

He stressed that Government had not left no one in doubt as to its commitment toward improved healthcare for Ndi Anambra.

Dr. 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.

He said: “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 per cent completion, Onitsha General Hospital now at 90 per cent completion and Ekwulobia General Hospital at 75 per cent completion.’’

The health commissioner stressed that Gov. 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.

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 COOUTH to be world class teaching hospital.

However, Akabuike said that Gov. 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.

Furthermore, Dr. Akabuike said: “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”.

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