Umuahia — After the initial renovation of the Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, and the Amachara General Hospital all in Umuahia, the government has embarked on "comprehensive upgrade" of the two secondary health facilities.
Commissioner for information, Prince Okey told journalists after the State Executive Council meeting that the goal in upgrading the hospitals was to enhance their capacity to handle medical cases that require highly specialised expertise.
He listed the special areas of medical treatment to include internal medicine, minimal invasive surgery, cardiology, nephrology, neurology, surgical services, among others.
Kanu said that Governor Alex Otti has also given approval for recruitment of highly specialised medical professionals that would provide the needed specialist services in the various medical fields.
He explained that upgrading of the two secondary health facilities located in the capital city "is in furtherance to the ongoing reforms in the health sector of the state", adding that the hospitals "would be retrofitted".
According to him, the Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre would be retrofitted to offer all kinds of diagnostic and surgery services in a one-stop-shop.
Corroborating his information counterpart, the Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, said that funds for the project and hiring of "high calibre specialists" has been approved by the governor.
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He stated that the comprehensive upgrading of the health facilities involve renovation of infrastructures, procurement and installation of state-of-the-art medical equipment and bringing in the required manpower.
Prof Uche, who assumed duties as health commissioner last week, said that Otti was desirous of providing the highest standard of healthcare services in Abia thereby reversing the health tourism trend in the state and Nigeria.
"In the succeeding days and weeks, some of these retrofitting and upgrade of services will become manifest," Prof. Uche said, adding that Abia would become a centre of excellence in various medical services.
To further improve the general health and hygienic condition of Abia residents, the SEC has also given the nod for the implementation of the Abia Integrated Water Sanitation and Hygiene Accelerated Programme.
Kanu said that the programme involved construction of solar-powered toilet facilities across the state, in line with global standards, as well as revamping of abandoned water facilities and water treatment plants.
While throwing more light on the programme, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Mr Ikechukwu Monday, said the programme would basically address water supply issues, which are critical to public health.
"When we took office, we assessed all the water facilities in the state and found that none of the 58 core water facilities was producing even a litre of water," he said.
Monday said that the course of implementing the three-phased programme, existing boreholes would be revived and converted to solar power to ensure constant water supply instead of relying on inconsistent power grid.
