By Ify Ash
Before the inception of Gov. Alex Otti’s administration on May 29, 2023, Abia State had been very unlucky, going by its poor healthcare system. The sector was characterized by dilapidated hospital structures, which were ill-equiped and lacking the needed health personnel, especially doctors and nurses.
All the general hospitals in the state, including Amachara, Isuikwato, Aba General Hospitals were all begging for government’s attention.
The worst of them was the 200 health centres situated in all the wards in the state.
The Abia State Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) not only lost accreditation but also lacked doctors and personnel, while the environment remained unkempt and unconducive for learning and medical services.
On several occasions, doctors in ABSUTH were compelled to down tools to protest the non payment of months of salary arrears and poor staff welfare. All of these led to the hospital losing its accreditation in June 2022.
Abians knew they were in for more mess, if PDP, which held the state down for 24 years, was allowed to return to power. Hence they became more united and resolute than ever before to vote out PDP. And with their massive votes and prayers came Dr Alex Otti, whose mandate was twice stolen by the same PDP in the 2015 and 2019 Governorship Elections.
In an inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, Gov. Otti declared a state of emergency on health, saying that there is “collapsed physical infrastructure, a terribly frail primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery system”.
He said: “We shall address headlong, the persisting challenges in the health sector. We shall tackle the problem of poor welfare package for our health workers by creating a system of incentives that rewards them generously for their sacrifices and commitment to saving and nurturing lives.
“Furthermore, we shall begin immediately to address the challenge of poor facilities in our health institutions through steady investment in the acquisition of modern medical equipment, appropriate funding, and a robust system of partnership with well-meaning development partners.
“We shall see to it that access to health services is improved for all classes of Abians and where necessary, we shall make important recruitments to address personnel shortages.”
Making good his promises, he began by appointing as his first Commissioner for Health.
In a speech at the maiden edition of the “Outstanding Scholar Lecture Series at ABSUTH, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, quoted the governor as saying that “transforming the teaching hospital into a global best will be one of the legacies of his administration. It is either ABSUTH ranks among the world best or be closed”.
She said that the current facelift at the institution was just an emergency intervention to enable it regain its lost accreditation, adding that a full and holistic intervention was underway.
The commissioner also said that the governor’s directive was to transform the institution into a centre of excellence or shut it down, but added that they had no choice but to make it work again.
”He directed that we should bring in the right people and make this institution globally acceptable. The Governor doesn’t want stories.
”So, the things you see here today were just an emergency intervention that we needed to make because of the accreditation season last year.
“The institution had lost accreditation for so long and it had outstanding students who had not graduated.
”But thank God we did it, and the lost accreditation has been regained.
“What you saw was the starting point. We worked with existing and limited budget last year.
”But now, we have our own budget. We will sit down and restructure this institution into world best.
“We will identify areas of utmost importance, and development strategy for both infrastructure development and training,” the commissioner had said.
True to the governor’s inaugural speech, in 2024 budget, he allocated a whooping 15.04 per cent of the state budget to the health sector, totalling about N85.3 billion.
According to him, this was a commitment to improving healthcare services for Abians and residents.
Subsequently, Abians and residents began to witness free medical care in hospitals across the state in July, 2023, when the State Ministry of Health kick-started a one-month free medical services at designated centers.
The exercise, which was launched at the General Hospital, Aba, impacted positively on the healthcare needs of residents of the state. It offered free medical consultations, checkups, surgical procedures, blood pressure and sugar tests, together with free drugs.
Consultants from the teaching hospital, including cardiologists, pediatrics, and optometrists were available to attend to people.
In the words of the commissioner, “Our target is to revitalize three general hospitals in the three Senatorial Districts within our first 100 days in office.
“We attempt to restore the hope and confidence of our people in the public health system. We want to begin by allowing people to come and receive free medical treatment.
“Medications are free, nobody is paying a dime to access these services.
“As a follow-up to what happened today, we envisage a situation where people may need to come back for follow-up medical care.
“To that effect, we have instructed the workers at the designated treatment centres to standby and ensure that those services are available to patients who may have the need for follow-up medical care, because this service will continue to the end of the month. All the doctors have promised to make themselves available.
“We have an insurance system that is supposed to cover babies, who are 0-5 years. We use that to support the treatment that the baby will receive at the teaching hospital”.
Appraising the performance of the exercise, Dr Ofor Ikechi, the Optometrist in- charge of the Aba General Hospital, said that over 100 patients received free medical consultations and drugs.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Amaka Okafor, lauded the State Government for introducing free medical services. She disclosed that she came for an eye check and was attended to.
Another promise kept in September, 2023, was the reopening of the renovated and retrofitted Abia Specialist Hospital, Aba Road and the Amachara General Hospital, both in Umuahia.
The Specialist Hospital (Mecure) established by former Gov. Theodore Orji, and celebrated at that time as one of the best in the country, was later abandoned by the administration of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.
In a speech at the re-launch of the facility, Gov. Otti said that the government invested huge sums of money to fix the dilapidated structures and entered into a strategic partnership for the servicing and maintenance of the equipment to keep them functional.
He gave assurance that never again shall government hospitals be left to deteriorate.
“Our target is to fully restore all primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions in the state for optimal functionality.
“Government is determined to combat the threat of common diseases in all parts of the state, using appropriate methodologies,” the governor said.
He maintained that a healthy population is the greatest asset to any society and that his administration had demonstrated commitment by doing everything to ensure that the strategic health facilities were brought back to life and are relevant to the current trend in healthcare services.
The governor said that the renovation of the hospital involved the completion and retrofitting the facility with modern machines, completion and re-equipping of the general out-patient department, the completion and re-equipping of accident and emergency department of both Abia Specialist and Amachara General Hospital, expansion and re-equipping of two major theatres, among others.
Also within the period under review, 60 Nigerian medical doctors practicing in the North and South America were in Abia State for a free medical outreach aimed at complementing the efforts of the State Government in improving the health of the citizenry.
The healthcare mission put together by the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas, took place between April 4 and April 10. It was a massive project that recorded at least 5,000 patients turnout with various ailments. The medical team also performed medical procedures on patients with surgical issues.
Furrhermore, the governor had also at several fora revealed his plans to make the state a health tourism centre. He plans to build a medical city aimed at revitalizing the health sector and generating employment opportunities within the state.
During one of his monthly interactions with the media, known as “Gov. Otti speaks to Abians,” held at the Government House, Umuahia, he gave assurance that the
project would take another two to three years to be ready, adding that it would help to reduce medical tourism abroad, when completed.
He also assured Abians that the facility would be equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities, comparable to those found in leading medical centers globally. He said that Abia indigenes and other Nigerians, including those in the diaspora, had shown significant interest in the project.
“This wide interest underscores the potential impact and importance of the medical city,” he said.
He felt joyed that his administration had made significant strides in retrofitting existing medical facilities, which are now staffed by skilled professionals, ensuring high-quality healthcare delivery.
The governor has also shown zeal and commitment in the fight against malaria as Panafricare, a non State Actor implementing the World Bank Malaria Impact project and a Federal Government’s initiative, donated 900,000 malaria commodities, including ACTs, RDTs , SP, amongst other items to the 292 ward health centre across the state and the delivery was done on July 30th, 2024 at the
Central Medical Store, Umuahia and received by the Secretaries of the 17 Local Government Areas (LGA).
In a speech at the launch of the programme in Abia, the Country Director of Panafricare, Dr Patrick Adah, said that Abia was one of the states that expressed interest in the project, having fulfilled the conditions to participate, which included the engagement of Panafricare for full implementation of the project.
Adah said that Panafricare is Africa-owned and managed, adding that after their preview, they were happy that the available data shows that Abia is doing well. He said the project was being facilitated in the 292 wards of Abia with over 900,000 ATCs, bed, prompt diagnosis and treatment with artemisimin based combination therapipi, vehicles and logistics, among others, available to be distributed, in addition to intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women as well as health education campaigns to raise awareness.
In a remark, the State Project Manager of Impact Project, Comrade Arua Obasi, thanked Governor Otti for his support and encouragement, saying that “a fight against malaria is one for everyone, which collectively will be won”.
Obasi also said that Abia was one of the states that expressed interest, “being hitherto referred to as an orphan state”, adding that other states in the impact project included Lagos, Rivers, Borno, Ekiti and recently Ondo. He thanked the governor for keying into the project.
According to him, Abia fulfilled the project’s conditions for participation, notably the payment of $100,000 counterpart fund, signing of subsidiary loan agreement, constitution of Project Implementation Unit (PIU), housing PIU in one roof, engagement of a non-state actor for full implementation of the project and signing of a contract agreement with NSA.
The end has not still been heard and seen of what the governor has in stock for Abia citizens and residents.
On August 19, 2024, he said that his government had concluded plans to renovate and retrofit 200 existing Primary Health Centres across the state before the end of this year.
He said that the project, being executed by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, has a delivery period of 100 days, beginning from September, 2024.
“It is a bold step being undertaken by the Ministry (Health) and work will commence across the state in those 200 Primary Health Centres in the first week of September and the delivery of those projects will be somewhere around December.
“I believe that will turn out to be some form of Christmas gift to Abians,” the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, had said at a media briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting.
Not done with Amachara General Hospital and Abia Specialist Hospital, the governor, during the Executive weekly meeting which held on 26 August, 2024, approved the comprehensive upgrade, retrofitting of both Amachara General Hospital and Abia Specialist Hospital in Umuahia.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu while briefing the press said the essence of the upgrade is to enable the healthcare facilities offer expanded scope of high quality medicare in specialized areas including internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, surgical services, general brain and spine surgeries among others.
He disclosed that the upgrade will come on stream within the next 12 to 15 weeks, reiterated that both facilities and structures in the two hospitals will witness massive transformation.
In addition., the Commissioner for Health, Prof Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche said the complete overhaul of the Abia Specialist Hospital and Amachara General Hospital are designed to elevate the status of the two hospitals.
He revealed that the comprehensive upgrade of the hospitals will not only improve the existing facilities but will also introduce new, state-of-the-art equipment and services.
While adding that the state government has approved funds for the recruitment of high-caliber specialists across various medical fields and also to provide quality healthcare services.
The Health Officer in charge of the Infant Welfare Clinic, Umuahia North Health Centre, Dr James Ihuamara, took time to evaluate Gov. Otti’s health initiatives so far, saying that there had been remarkable improvement in the supply of drugs, more trainings, and welfare palliative.
He further disclosed that operations were becoming more standard in the health sector, pointing out that the state now records prompt responses to outbreak of diseases, such as polio, cholera and the recent Mpox.
“If I am to rate the governor, I will rate him 70 per cent, we have seen under Otti more presence of Basic Health Insurance personnel, who from time to time come to provide drugs for the aged.
“We have also witnessed more programmes in food and nutrition.
“We are still begging the governor for more incentives for health workers in the council.
“We are doing better now as health workers than before,” Ihuamara said.
End
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