The Abia State Government, in collaboration with the Abia State Diaspora Commission, has commenced a week-long free Medical Outreach tagged “Abia State Global Medical Mission 2025″, with surgeries, consultations and specialised treatments already underway in designated centres across the State.
The outreach is taking place daily from 8:00am to 4:00pm at the Abia State Specialist Hospital, Aba Road Umuahia, Uzuakoli Methodist Hospital, Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, Ogbor Hill Aba, Ahiaeke Primary Health Centre and Okoko Item Health Centre, and will be concluded on Friday.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Uche, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the Abia State Specialist Hospital, Umuahia, after inspecting some of the outreach centres.
Prof. Uche said the initiative was part of Governor Alex Otti’s healthcare reform agenda aimed at ensuring equitable access to quality medical services for residents, regardless of their location.
“This is part of His Excellency’s roadmap to healthcare equity in Abia State, which is a trilogy of projects that have been carefully planned and implemented to ensure that people in Abia, irrespective of where they live, down to the last mile, are able to access the highest quality of healthcare.
“The idea is that His Excellency believes that taking healthcare directly to the people saves healthcare costs and ensures that high-quality healthcare is delivered to the grassroots”, he said.
According to the Commissioner, the outreach has three major components which includes, Free Medical Services, collaboration with Global Health Organisations, and Health Insurance.
He added that the programme also includes training for frontline Health Workers in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).
“In this programme, we have a training aspect, where we are training frontline healthcare workers on basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support.
“This training is ongoing to ensure that our healthcare workers are given the right skill sets they require to save lives”, Prof. Uche explained.
He noted that the outreach, which runs simultaneously across the three senatorial zones, was designed to reduce Healthcare costs, curb quackery and improve access to quality care at the grassroots.
The Commissioner urged residents to take advantage of the free services, including Consultations, Surgeries and Health Education and warning against patronising unapproved Medical Outreaches.
Prof. Uche also lauded Governor Otti’s commitment to Healthcare delivery, noting that the Governor was recently recognised as the best-performing Governor in Primary Healthcare in the South-East and among the top six nationally.
The Chairman of the Abia State Diaspora Commission, Mr Okechukwu Agbara, in his contribution, said the Commission was pleased to partner with the State Government to deliver quality healthcare services to Abians.
“This mission is being executed. It is a success. The surgeries are being done here. There is eye surgery being done at SDA, about 150 each day.
“Abia State is becoming something that everybody is pretty much proud of”, Agbara said.
He disclosed that the outreach includes free medical consultations, health promotion talks, skills transfer, free surgeries, and both basic and advanced cardiovascular life support training.
“For us in the diaspora, it is our responsibility to facilitate this kind of development and support the efforts the Governor is making.
“Not too long ago, Abia State won the NGF award amounting to $500,000. I will do my best to make sure we make the necessary contacts for the State to receive what it deserves in terms of Diaspora Investment and Healthcare support”, he added.
Agbara commended volunteer Doctors from the Diaspora and within Nigeria, assuring that the Commission would continue to mobilise Global Partnerships to support the State’s development.
Members of the Medical Outreach team, including Dr Chimezie Nwaru, a public health expert, and an anaesthetist, Mr Goodluck Esinwoke, said a wide range of major and minor surgeries were being carried out, including myomectomy, Hernia repairs, removal of lumps and Paediatric Surgeries.
“We carry out various surgeries such as myomectomy, hernia repairs and removal of lumps,” Dr Nwaru said, adding that an average of 200 patients had been attended to daily since the commencement of the outreach.
Esinwoke disclosed that about 50 surgical cases had been listed, with several already completed, while Eye Care Services, including examinations and treatment of eye conditions, were also ongoing.
Some beneficiaries including Mrs Nnenna Chibuzor, whose son underwent a free hernia surgery, expressed gratitude to the State Government and the organisers, noting that financial constraints had delayed the procedure for over two years.
“My family and I are deeply grateful. We could not afford the surgery before now. I am glad that my son received the procedure at no cost”, she said.
