The Government of Anambra State is to spend 15 billion naira for the Ministry of Health to improve healthcare service delivery next year in the state.

This will take care of upgrading the state Tertiary hospital, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Amaku Awka, build an ultra modern nursing school at Ekwulobia zone to increase the nursing school training and build a world class medical diagnosis and cancer hospital in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike stated this in Awka while defending his ministry’s 2024 budget before the joint committee of the House of Assembly on Finance & Appropriation, and Health.

He noted that the citing a modern Nursing School at Ekwulobia Zone is to ensure equitable balance of such nursing schools that exist at both private, state and federal status in Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi Zones.

“While we are upgrading tertiary hospital at Amaku Awka, we also need to increase the nursing school training in the state. For instance, at our nursing school Nkpor, 500 candidates jostle for a course meant for 150 students.

“We are working towards achieving a primary healthcare centre in every wards (376 wards)”.

Dr Obidike noted that efforts are in top gear to have a general hospital at Ayamelum, Anambra West, Ogbaru and Onitsha South council areas which have no general hospitals before, while major upgrades are going on at Umueri, Enugwu-Ukwu, Ekwulobia and Nanka General Hospitals with solar power installed in them for efficient functionality.

He applauded the free antenatal and free delivery at Primary Healthcare Centre, that led two women to deliver triplets each at Ogbu referrral centre and Ufuma respectively at no cost at all, stressing that the ministry had recorded 1500 deliveries across the state Primary Healthcare Centres in the outgoing year 2023.

Speaking about his performance in the outgoing fiscal year in which the ministry had 5 billion naira budget size, Dr Obidike said:

“We started with the recruitment of 5000 health staff for our general hospitals and they started work in January this year. It brought to an end 19 of our general hospitals that have been operating without medical doctors.

“We also know that we need to be training human resources through our College of Heath Technology Obosi which is experiencing massive infrastructural development including accreditation for more departments.

“The telemedicine is still on course. Launched at Awkuzu, Oyi council area, we have excallated it to the 21 LGAs. Telemedicine is the primary healthcare centres that surround a general hospital. Here, a general hospital becomes a hub for the primary healthcare centres around it where patients can access healthcare by calling a doctor resident in that general hospital for telephonic diagnose and tele treat.

“By next week, we are recruiting 500 workers specifically for telemedicine across the state”, the Health Commissioner concluded.