Enugu Govt spent N800m on medical equipment, drugs in 8yrs — Gov. Chime

Gov. Chime

THE Eighth Council on Health Meeting has ended in Enugu with the state government saying that it spent N800 million on procurement of drugs in the last eight years of Governor Sullivan Chime’s administration. Stakeholders that attended the meeting included the World Health Organisation, WHO, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF; the National Health Insurance

Scheme, NHIS; National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA as well as the Nigerian Medial Association, NMA among others. Speaking on the occasion, Chime, represented by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr George Eze, said that 34 health facilities and 21 health staff quarters undertaken by his government were constructed to provide adequate security for both staff and patients.

Chime also said that his administration rehabilitated over 89 health facilities in the state and asked his successor, Hon Ifeanyi Ugwanyi, to give the same priority to the health sector in a bid to boost health related Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.

His words, “Health has remained one of the priority sectors of the state deriving from the service delivery area of our four-point agenda. Our investments in the health sector have no doubt yielded the expected democracy dividends to our people, particularly the women of child bearing age and under five year old children across the state.

“It is my belief that the outcome of the council meeting will provide the stakeholders the opportunity to identify and outline the key health sector development agenda for the incoming administration in the state.” In his goodwill message, the immediate past Executive Secretary, NHIS, Dr Femi Thomas, said the Federal Government had spent N2.8 trillion to guarantee access to the national health scheme.

Thomas said that 96 per cent of federal civil servants, representing over 3.5 million people and their dependants, were currently beneficiaries of the scheme and commended the Enugu State government for adopting the scheme. He also urged other state governments to key into the programme. In his speech, the Enugu State Coordinator of WHO, Dr Onyinye Emefiele, called for improved funding of the sector for better health care delivery to the people of the state.

Emefiele further advocated for a compulsory health insurance policy for both income and non-income earners in the country. Also, the Chief Field Officer, UNICEF, Mr Charles Nzoki, said the organisation would continue to support the state in the area wide health coverage. The South-East Zonal Coordinator, NPHCDA, Dr Ngozi Nwosu, expressed regrets that Enugu State dropped in the percentage of its immunisation plus coverage in the last quarter.

She then called on the state Ministry of Health to step up efforts towards maintaining the lead in the immunisation programme in the zone. The state Chairman of the NMA, George Ugwu, called for the urgent passage of the anti-quackery bill into law to help in the fight against the menace in the profession.