● Ferdy Agu
Enugu – The Enugu State Government has intensified the roll-out of 260 Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the 260 wards in the state, as Governor Peter Mbah visited one of the facilities at Otukwu community in Emene, Enugu, over the weekend.
This development comes as the administration announced a remarkable reduction of over 400 per cent in the national average maternal mortality rate of 512 deaths per 100,000 live births, which it inherited.
Speaking at the event in Enugu East LGA, Governor Mbah stressed that his administration was intentional in disrupting the unacceptable poor state of the primary healthcare system from the outset, as a healthy population and workforce remained central to his government’s vision of growing the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn.
He explained that the PHCs were not just about physical structures but also about world-class equipment, including staff quarters and renewable energy, to ensure the availability of manpower and electricity 24 hours a day in the 260 PHCs in the state.
“Some of the data that we saw when we came in were very disturbing. The data on maternal mortality was unacceptable, and we immediately recognised that we had to do something very quickly, particularly in our primary healthcare subsector. We recognise that there is no reason our women who are pregnant will not be able to get quality healthcare at any time of the night or day, hence the staff quarters and renewable energy. This is essentially responsible for the intervention you are seeing in the primary healthcare space,” he said.
Mbah noted that similar interventions were ongoing at the secondary healthcare level, with the revamping of 22 Cottage and General hospitals. He added that at the tertiary healthcare level, the administration was building a world-class Enugu International Hospital to attract top-notch medical practitioners who would deliver world-class medical services.
The governor emphasized that the Otukwu, Emene PHC was in line with his administration’s inclusive governance model, ensuring that development reaches all communities regardless of political or personal affiliations. He also announced plans to build a Type-3 healthcare facility in the area to cater to the dense population.
He commended the Council Chairman of Enugu East LGA, Hon. Beloved Dan Anike, for enrolling 5,000 persons into the Enugu State Universal Health Coverage scheme and urged other chairmen to do the same.
“What that means is that once you have that cover, you just walk freely to any of our health facilities and receive treatment just by paying 1,000 naira every month,” he said.
In her address, the Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, described the governor’s interventions in the primary health subsector as radical and life-saving.
“In 2023, the governor embarked on a fact-finding mission. What he discovered was a primary healthcare system in dire need of resuscitation. Out of 566 PHCs, a shocking 47 per cent were in a state of disrepair – rented, housed in containers, or simply dilapidated. Forty per cent required major overhauls, and only 12 per cent were barely functioning adequately.
“We also faced a daunting challenge requiring 7,573 Primary Healthcare Community Workers (PHCWs), but had only 2,942, which is a staggering 61.2 per cent gap. The governor resolved it by approving the recruitment of 2,200 PHCWs,” she stated.
She further explained that the state-of-the-art PHC in Otukwu, Emene, which commenced operations about three weeks ago, had already registered 140 residents, while two babies, named Peter and Ndubuisi by their parents, had been delivered at the facility.
She noted that the government’s interventions were already yielding significant results, as Enugu’s maternal mortality rate, previously above the national average of 512 deaths per 100,000 live births, had drastically reduced, although the Mbah administration still considered the figures unacceptable.
“In 2024, we witnessed a dramatic turnaround of over 400 per cent drop in maternal mortality, a decline that speaks volumes about the efficacy of the administration’s interventions,” she explained.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Obi, described Enugu as the future of medical tourism in West Africa and Africa as a whole, noting that the governor was building not just for the present, but also for the future.
Meanwhile, in their separate remarks, the South East Zonal Coordinator of the World Health Organization, Dr. Chukwumuanya Igboekwu; State Project Coordinator, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, James Chukwunwendu; State Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association, Dr. Sunday Okafor; Chairman of Enugu East LGA, Hon. Beloved Dan Anike; and a woman community leader, Mrs. Chinyere Edeh, commended Governor Mbah for demonstrating all-inclusive leadership in the health sector that positively impacts even the most remote communities in the state. GMTNewsng
