By OGEMDI OZOEMENAM, Awka
Anambra State have recorded no fewer than 6,000 deliveries with only one death and 120 ceaserean section since Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo introduced free antenatal and free delivery for pregnant women in the state in September last year 2023.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike states this in Awka while assessing the performance of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo's administration in health sector for the past two years.
He said the free deliveries are done to every pregnant woman in the state no matter her state of origin.
According to him, Albendazole are among the free drugs administered to school children defecating worms while Cenoproflaxis and Proflaxis XP and A-C-T are drugs used to treat women of malaria in pregnancy free of charge, thereby reducing the impact of malaria during pregnancy.
"There is Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency to ensure that both public and private health facilities are of international standard. The bill for the establishment of the agency, was passed by the current Anambra state House of Assembly and accented by the Governor thereby equipping the unit. Hence, a lot of quark hospitals and baby factories were closed down.
"We recruited medical doctors, consultants, nurses among others thereby making it more than 1000 health workers recruited with the space of two years.
"Monitoring Team go about gathering information about non satisfaction of services rendered by certain health workers. Drug Management System (which later graduated to Agency) ensures drug supply and availability to the grassroots.
"Every medical doctor and medical personnel in Anambra state shall have name tag to help guard against unprofessional medical practices including diversion of patients to private clinics.
"From his manifesto, Soludo wants to have a functional general hospital per local government in his first term. Thus, he made sure to have general hospitals where it never existed in five local government areas of the state: Okpoko for Ogbaru, Fegge for Onitsha South, Awkuzu for Oyi, Orom Etiti for Anambra West and Enugwu-Otu for hard-to-reach areas of Anambra East.
"In primary healthcare, Soludo's administration is building at least one fully equipped and functional primary healthcare centre in all the 326 electoral wards in Anambra, with solar powered lights in all of them. With this, we have established a well-structured functionality of our health sector from primary to secondary healthcare system.
"There is equally proposal to establish a new College of Nursing Science in Ekwulobia axis of the state, where no nursing school exists in the zone.
Dr Obidike further announced that Anambra State is ranked second among the states with the lowest prevalence rate of Malaria in the country with Lagos three percent and Anambra five percent according to National Malaria Survey.
The noted that District Health Information System (DHIS) of 2023 indicated that children under-five deaths due to malaria had decreased in Anambra from 3.5 in 2022 and 0.96 on 2023.
According to the Health Commissioner, the state achieved this reduction in Malaria prevalence with desilting of drains across the state and the distribution of 3.8 million mosquito nets in partnership with Malaria Consortium.
“The rate of net use has increased in Anambra from 27 per cent to 57 per cent which is above the national average of 37 per cent. Incidences of fever attributed to Malaria also dropped.
"We have had 14,000 free cervical cancer screening, 1.4% positive and 40% of them treated free under the initiative of the Governor's wife, Mrs Nonye Soludo.
"Our Disease Surveillance Unit stationed in every local government of the state is actually the best in the South East as we get daily information on any outbreak of disease."
He said the state government is recruiting more health workers, upgrading and equipping health facilities to ensure unhindered access to quality and affordable healthcare and enhance a smart healthcare system in the state.