History was made on Tuesday, 5th April 2022 in Umuahia as the first ABIA STATE CHILDREN SPECIALIST HOSPITAL, ANNAMARIE JACKSON MEDICAL CENTRE, built and equipped by the administration of Governor Okezie Victor Ikpeazu Ph.D in partnership with Abians in the Diaspora was officially commissioned for use by the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, His Excellency, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, GCON.
The ultra modern medical facility which is strategically located in the city centre, opposite the Central Police Station, Bende road Umuahia was established to further give impetus to the commitment of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to the health and welfare of the people and residents of Abia State and more particularly, the healthcare of the mother and child.
In his speech at the commissioning programme, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said his decision to establish the Abia State Children Specialist Hospital stems from the need to tackle infant and maternal mortality and improve on health care delivery in the State. He said “Our plan to improve on health outcomes as calculated by time tested indices like infant and maternal mortality as well as life expectancy. My challenge in Abia is to ensure that by the time I leave in 2023, life expectancy for Abia will be higher than the national average.”
It is obvious that, in crafting his vision of ensuring that life expectancy in Abia is above the national average, Governor Ikpeazu’s administration saw that the best strategy was to capture the two extremes of life which is the geriatric and the mother & child.
Whereas the Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu administration has an ongoing programme of geriatric outreach to cater for the elderly in the various communities, the inauguration of this second extreme, being the mother & child is necessary. According to the Governor “We felt that time has come for us to build a dedicated hospital that would cater for the welfare of our children. This is more or less a specialist hospital because it has within the confines of the premises, all that is required in terms of equipment to speak to the need of the children between the age bracket already specified in order for us to deliver quality healthcare services. We think that it is the right of every child to live and we think that it is the responsibility of government to give every child, every Abian an opportunity, a fair chance to live.”
Of course, the Governor explained that the reason behind adding Annamarie Jackson to the name of the hospital was to keep to the promise he made to Dr. Jackson, a friend he met overseas, who facilitated the importation of medical equipment that supported the project and declined his own name being used as the Governor demanded but instead requested that his mother’s name be used.
While commissioning the medical outfit, the highly elated PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu said “I am happy I have been invited by the Governor of Abia State to do two things, one to commission hospital, secondly commission a road. This is what we want to see from our leaders.” He further emphasized that “When we elect Governors on the platform of People’s Democratic Party, we enjoin them to do specific things to give the dividends of democracy to our people, to build roads for them, to provide housing, to give water, to provide medical facilities, to provide education.”
Some of the services to be rendered by the hospital include, caring for children aged zero to 18 years, neonatology, surgery, pharmacy, laboratory, x-ray, ultrasound, health promotion and disease prevention. The Abia State Children’s Specialist Hospital boasts of all equipment needed to tackle the needs of children and their mothers. What Governor Ikpeazu wants to do in building this hospital is to provide capacity in the State to manage the challenges arising from child delivery and mother and child complications end to end.
Interestingly too, the Governor was able collaborate with Abians in the Diaspora to negotiate and take delivery of various medical equipment suitable for the specialist hospital. This would further beef up healthcare needs of the people. With this development, Abia State has no business looking elsewhere for a referral centre for health complications in mother and child care as the hospital would provide permanent structure that would help Abia to fight issues of infant and maternal mortality.
It is imperative to stress that the project was initiated by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and was fully funded by the State government while critical and technical collaborations and expertise of Abians in the diaspora were sought in order to realize the project and most of the equipment were supplied through Abians in the Diaspora.
Being the only specialist hospital in Abia State dedicated for children and their mothers, the mothers are therefore advised to make good use of it to give our children a fair chance to survive and live. This is important as Governor Ikpeazu made it clear that no child or mother should be turned back at the gate of the hospital on account of having no money to access the healthcare
Unarguably, establishment and commissioning of this facility is a further testimony of the commitment of the Ikpeazu administration to the health and wellbeing of the people of Abia State. Indeed, the efforts of Governor Ikpeazu in fighting infant and maternal mortality to a stand still is commendable. So, the idea of building a children’s hospital is a noble stride of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu which must be applauded as it is one of the ways of giving the health sector in the State a facelift.
All these efforts of the Governor are geared towards ensuring that Abia State remains on top in the healthcare sector, hence the need for all to assist in one way or the other to make him succeed. Kudos to the State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu!
Divine Nwankwobis a Staff of Abia State Ministry of Information & Strategy.
