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, at the weekend.
This was even as the administration said it had reduced by over 400 per cent, the national average maternal mortality of 512 deaths per every 100,000 live births, which it inherited.
Speaking at the event in Enugu East LGA, 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 was at the core of his government’s vision to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn.
He explained that the PHCs were not just about the buildings, but about world-class equipment, including staff quarters and renewal energy to ensure availability of manpower and electricity 24 hours of the 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.
“These interventions you are seeing at the primary level are also going on at the secondary facilities. We are revamping 22 Cottage and General hospitals. The same thing is going on in tertiary healthcare where we are building a world-class Enugu International Hospital. We are going to have top-notch medical practitioners that will deliver world-class medical services”, he said.
Mbah emphasised that the Otukwu, Emene, PHC was in line with his administration’s inclusive governance model where people did not need to know anyone in government for development to get to them, adding that his administration would in addition build a Type-3 healthcare facility in their area to ensure full access to healthcare services by 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 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. 40 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 explained that the state-of-the-art PHC Otukwu, Emene, which had commenced work about three weeks ago had registered 140 residents, while two babies, named Peter and Ndubuisi by their parents, had been delivered in the facility.
She noted that the government’s interventions were already yielding fruits, as Enugu’s maternal mortality rate, which was above national average of over 512 deaths per 100,000 live births, had drastically reduced, although it was still not acceptable to the Mbah administration.
“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, notbl just for the present, but also for the future.
Meanwhile, in their separate remarks, the South East Zonal Coordinator, 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 showing an all-inclusive leadership in the health space that touches the lives of people in the remotest parts of the state.