Abia to recruit 771 health workers, frowns at pregnant women patronizing traditional birth centres

From Okey Sampson, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti said he has approved the recruitment of 771 health professionals including doctors among other health experts to enhance medical services in the Primary Health Centers in the state.

This is even as the State Government has frowned at the altitude of some pregnant women who patronise traditional birth attendants for child delivery instead of the government hospitals.

The Governor who made this known at the weekend, disclosed that the state government would also build staff quarters for health workers.

Otti disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be visiting the state on October 3, to commission some projects including the Ohanku, Ndoki, Pepples road and the newly reconstructed Port Harcourt road which was abandoned over 20 years ago.

He also disclosed that the state would receive 19 electric buses to be delivered by the Coscharis group, with more of the electric buses to be received by January next year.

Otti equally announced that the state was working to becoming one of the largest rice producing states in the southeast, even as efforts were on top gear to complete the ongoing construction of 20 smart schools in the state, adding that the state was planning to recruit more 4000 teachers for the state schools.

Otti, who announced that the Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba has regained the accreditation of its 33 courses which were lost during the previous administrations in the state, disclosed that reconstruction of the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene highway would soon be flagged off, just as the Five Star Enyimba Hotel which has been abandoned for about 30 years.

Meanwhile, Abia State Government has frowned at the altitude of some pregnant women who patronise traditional birth attendants for child delivery instead of the government hospitals.

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti was speaking while functionalising the newly retrofited Ohiya Primary Health Centre, in Ohiya, Umuahia South LGA.

Representated by the Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, the Governor regretted that many women have lost their lives due to uncontrolled complications at the traditional birth attendants, saying that, his administration was intentional about the lives of the people, especially the mother and child, hence his government embarked on the retrofiting of 200 PHCs across all the wards in the state.