TRANSFORMATION IN THE ABIA HEALTH SECTOR; THE SECRET OF THE SUCCESS STORY – Dr. Ahukanna.

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Dr. John Ahukannah, the honourable commissioner, Abia state ministry of health has said that through the intervention and encouragement of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, his ministry has achieved a facelift in the state. The commissioner said this on Wednesday in his office while answering questions from newsmen on the achievements of the present administration in the health sector.
According to him, the health care delivery in the state was hitherto nothing to write home about until the Okezie’s Ikpeazu advent in the political terrain and expressed delight that 2 years down the lane, there has been tremendous achievements made.
The helmsman of the ministry said that within the first year of the present Administration, the governor through the ministry worked his way into the heart of the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION to win the ‘Save One Million Lives’ fund of $1.5 million to Abia state, among the 16 states of the federation that benefitted from the fund. This fund according to the health ministry boss is meant to tackle head long and reduce the mobility and mortality rate in the six key areas of live threatening diseases and interventions among the women of childbearing age and children under 5 years.
He continued by saying that “before the present administration in the state, the schools of nursing and midwifery in the State were both in moribund form, lacked re- accreditation, but today, all the shools of nursing and midwifery in Abiriba, Aba, Amachara, and Umuahia have all been resuscitated both in infrastructure and re-accreditation”.
When asked of the efforts made to improve the health institutions in the state, Dr. Ahukanna said “In the last two years of this government led by Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, we have been able upgrade the college of health sciences and management technology from monotechnic to polytechnic by having all its courses acreditated by the national board for technical education (NBTE). Not only that, the college now offers computer science, statistics and public administration all at HND levels. The college now runs public nursing, public health technology, community health technology, information management system.”
Moving ahead on the score card of the Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu led administration, the Abia state ministry of health boss said the ministry through the governor has has established a multi drug resistance ward at the federal medical centre, Umuahia and embarked upon the installation of culture laboratory at Amachara specialist hospital, gave free treatment to T.B patients in one hundred and two (102) direct observed therapy (DOT) centres at 5 hospitals in the state at Ohafia, Amachara, FMC Umuahia, SDA Aba and ABSUTH Aba. These are in effort to intervene in the TB prevention and treatment.
” Abia state has established a health care system called Abia state Tele-Health with a company”, Dial – A-Doc direct consults. This is a mechanism for easy access to medical services to the rural dwellers and as we speak, 15 primary health centres are being used as pilot centres, using 5 PHCs in each of the 3 senatorial zones of the state.”
Speaking further Dr. Ahukannah said that after hosting the 59th national council on health by Abia state government under Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the state attracted N1.5billion basic health care provision fund as one of the pilot states in Nigeria.
According to him, this fund provided by the federal ministry of health is to carter for all spheres of health care delivery in Abia state starting from July, 2017 and the 292 PHCs will receive direct fund from the federal ministry of health” he said.
The honourable commissioner maintained that the score card of this administration in the health industry can not be complete if he fails to inform Abians that the ministry of health through the encouragement of the governor has recorded 7.9% reduction of HIV/AIDS from 3.9% through regular administration of direct observed therapy and ART. Also in connection with the carter centre, the state recorded 65% coverage in Onchocerciasis, Lymphatic filliaraisis, Schistosmiasis and soil helminths.
The commissioner while thanking Abians for the support they have given the Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu led administration urged them not to relent as the government is poised to bring a greater development in health and other sectors at large.
“My message to Abians is that they should be prayerful and supportive to the government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, we have not gotten there but we are almost, the government will surely live a landmark which other states will be proud of” he said.