Governor Theodore Orji on Wednesday November 13 2013, won the maiden edition of BusinessDay Good Governance Award in healthcare development and security, making him the best performing Governor in the country in those two sectors of the economy.
That Governor Orji won the prestigious awards, organized by BusinessDay, the foremost business media organization in Nigeria, did not come to Abians and friends of Abia as a surprise. Indeed, his commitment and zeal to pilot the affairs of the State has never been in doubt.
Governor Orji at the inception of his second tenure in office vowed to uplift the standard of living of the people, as well as the image of the State; the quest to bring good life to the people spurs him to invest in all sectors. He believes that the dead do not enjoy dividends of democracy; explains why he is improving infrastructure in the health sector to provide quality healthcare service delivery.
His Excellency demonstrated the when he comissioned a dialysis centre in Umuahia, the State capital. With the opening of the project, first of its kind in the entire southeast geo-political zone of the country, Governor Orji fulfilled one of his campaign promises, which was to provide a unique healthcare facility for the citizens.
According to Professor A.U. Mbanaso, Medical Director, Abia Diagnostic Complex, few months after his inauguration as the third democratically elected Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji took a remarkable decision in September 2007 when promised to reengineer, reform and rejuvenate the state of healthcare. Then, Orji said he would replicate what he saw at Howard University Teaching Hospital in United States of America, where all units of a medical facility were available in one location. This, Mbanaso recalled, led to the partnership between the State and Me-cure of India, with provision of the most up-to-date equipment in diagnostic laboratory.
Eddie Onuzuruike, in his account of the health programme of Governor Orji, noted that dialysis machines before 2007, were strange medical contraptions. As it was, people with renal ailments in the South East region, had to book for sessions in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu or travel abroad at huge cost for attention and comprehensive analysis. But that is no longer the situation.
The present administration in the State has acquired seven dialysis machines-one serves as standby spare, another set aside for HIV patients, while Hepatitis sufferers have one to themselves. The remaining four are reserved for normal patients to avoid complications, which may result from contamination of blood. In addition, the Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Complex offers a high variety of health packages never seen before involving bio-chemical and radiological diagnostic investigations.
Apart from this, the State Government is also setting up 100 bed Hospitals in nine Local Government Areas carefully selected from the three Senatorial Zones of the State. These are in Arochukwu, Ohafia, Umuahia South, Okeikpe. Others are in Ikwuano, Aba North, Obi Ngwa, Ugwunagbo and Osisioma. Out of this lot, Obi Ngwa and Ikwuano are being raised from the scratch.
The construction of 250 new primary healthcare centres across the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia State and the establishment of the state primary healthcare development agency are in line with the National Healthcare Policy, geared towards making healthcare available to people, especially those at the hinterlands.
The executive support and personal involvement in all rounds of Immunisation and De-worming of school children, war against measles, sensitisation on cancer, hypertension and diabetes, exclusive breastfeeding and attracting medical teams for free medicare services to the people, are all geared towards ensuring not only a sound health system for women and children, but for the entire populace.
Aside the State Government’s programme against maternal and infant mortality, the administration seeks out well-meaning non-governmental bodies to take healthcare delivery to the people. The office of the Governor’s wife is equally supporting people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as empowering the less-privileged and indigent women in line with the UNH4 objective of ensuring optimal health for women and children.
About 12,603 HIV/AIDS patients in the state are to receive government support services aimed at reducing the rate of infection and eradication of the virus in the state, while 7,351 carriers of the virus would equally receive treatment in various outlets. Consequently, 33 counseling and testing outlets and seven comprehensive Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres in the three senatorial zones of the state have been established to reduce the rate of new infections.
Furthermore, pregnant women in Abia State are to access the services of prevention of mother-to-child transmission by going to the nearest centres for counseling, testing and treatment in order to deliver a HIV-negative baby, and free the next generation from the virus.
Already, Abia State Government and four United Nations Health agencies (UNH4) have worked out an arrangement to deepen areas of partnership in providing healthcare for the good people of the state. UNH4 team, comprising UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and World Bank, at a recent visit to the state, pledged to sustain its relationship with the Abia to facilitate optimal healthcare delivery for women and children.
Nnaji Obed is Special Assistant to Abia State Governor on e-governance & Strategy
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