Joseph Aneke
When the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that harms inflicted on patients due to inadequate healthcare worldwide results in 2.6 million deaths annually in low-and middle-income countries alone, most Nigerians knew the figure could even be more.
However, the state of health facilities in Nigeria remains pathetic as governments at all levels pay lip service to the health sector. The sector has degenerated so much that most elite in Nigeria embark on health tourism even for a minor ailment like typhoid fever because they no longer have faith in the Nigerian health system.
Like other states of the federation where the health system has collapsed totally, Enugu was not an exception. But, all that has become history today, because the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi decided to change the narrative.
Troubled by the WHO’s damning revelation, coupled with what was on ground for everybody to see before he became governor, Ugwuanyi swore to change the face of health sector in the state. On the day of his inauguration, he promised the people of Enugu that he would give them a health system that would guarantee their health safety and even attract patients from other parts of Nigeria.
His massive and uncommon achievements in the area of health since he became governor speak volumes. No doubt, Ugwuanyi’s achievements in health sector are too numerous to mention but I will try to list very few of them, just so that doubting Thomases could visit the state to see for themselves.
Last week, during an inspection tour of the School of Basic Midwifery and General Hospital, Awgu, the governor ordered for the rehabilitation and upgrade of facilities at the health institution. The school which was established in 1951 by the missionary and taken over by the old Anambra State Ministry of Health in 1977 has lost its glory before ugwuanyi’s intervention. According to the Principal, Theresa Agbo, and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Ifeanyi Agujiobi, the school lost its accreditation after 2004 academic session, but regained it in 2018; 14 years after, following Ugwuanyi’s interventions which included total overhaul of the facilities as well as provisions of a new coaster bus, basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment and clinical demonstration materials.
In addition to giving the school a facelift and restoring its lost glory, the governor has continually paid for the accommodation fees of the first set of 50 students and second set of 81 students respectively.
He has also given a similar order for total overhaul of facilities at the General Hospital, Agbani, Nkanu West Local Government Area of the state.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic which exposed the parlous state of the country’s health sector, Ugwuanyi was among the governors that swiftly rose and confronted the monster headlong. He reconstructed the Colliery Hospital, Enugu, and put up new structures, so much that it has now been designated as an Infectious Disease Isolation and Treatment Centre.
Interestingly, Ugwuanyi’s administration would be remembered for awarding contracts for the construction of new Primary Health Care Centres in seven local government areas of the state, rehabilitation of 34 health facilities across the 17 local government areas, as well as upgrading and rehabilitation of General Hospital, Ogrute, Enugu Ezike, and Nsukka District Hospital, among others.
As a matter of fact, work at Nsukka, Agbani, and Enugu-Ezike General Hospitals, respectively, has been completed and ready for commissioning. The centres received additional structures, even as the old ones were reconstructed and properly equipped, so as to enhance medical care in those parts of the state.
It is also on record that Ugwuanyi’s administration has put in place three brand-new Primary Healthcare Centres at Abakpa-Nike, Oji River and Obollo Afor, representing the three senatorial zones of the state.
Poly Clinic, Asata, Enugu North Local Government Area, and Udi District Hospital, Udi Local Government Area, have both been reconstructed and upgraded to general hospitals by Ugwuanyi’s administration. They are now Poly General Hospital and Udi General Hospital, respectively.
The Enugu State University (ESUT) Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, which offers undergraduate clinical and post-graduate residency training for doctors, in addition to delivery of specialist care to the people, is also not left out of Ugwuanyi’s Midas touch. The teaching hospital has continued to receive support and attention from the state government. Recently, the governor granted approval to the school to absorb 125 internship applicants and 102 resident doctors. There has also been continuous recruitment of consultants in different medical fields, accreditation and provision of medical equipment to sustain the hospital’s capacity to a high tech tertiary health institution.
Gburugburu, as the governor is fondly called, is fully aware of the hell the people of Enugu North Senatorial zone pass through before they can access tertiary health facility. Most times, the people would have to travel for so many kilometers to Enugu, the state capital, and even to the neighbouring Anambra and Ebonyi States, before they can get tertiary medical help. Ugwuanyi’s response to this singular problem is the construction of a 200-bed specialist hospital at Igbo-Ano in Enugu North Senatorial District. The hospital, which its construction is ongoing, when completed alongside other proposed infrastructure at the site, would serve as facilities for the ESUT College of Medicine, which has been relocated to Nsukka.
Ugwuanyi’s large heart and doggedness to bequeath a legacy of sound health infrastructure to the people of Enugu knows no bound. This is evidenced in his propensity to also add value not only to state’s health facilities, but also, the federal health institution located in the state. To this end, the Enugu State government is currently rehabilitating the old University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Road, and also assisting to establish a research and diagnostic center at the UNTH, Ituku/Ozalla; an action that informed the College’s decision to honour the governor.
However, upon the realisation that providing these health facilities would amount to nothing if the people cannot afford their services due to poverty, the governor keyed into the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) of WHO; a programme that enables all people and communities to use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services, which they need. The programme also ensures that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.
The global health body’s demand for governments across the world is to ensure that people are not denied access to health services simply because they are too poor to afford it. To ensure that health is provided for all in the state, irrespective of individual’s financial status, the government of Enugu State under the leadership of Governor Ugwuanyi, has already fulfilled the requirements for the takeoff of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund. Government has also paid the mandatory N100 million counterpart funds, which will enable the people of the state to benefit from the healthcare services under the UHC.
As Gburugburu continues to blaze the trail in health sector, with full realisation that health is wealth and that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation, I can only commend his efforts and pray that he remains focused till the end, so that history will judge him well. With his stellar performance in the provision of health care for Enugu people, one cannot but agree with him that indeed, “Enugu is in the hands of God.”
•Aneke writes from Coal Camp, Enugu