More feats are being reported in the ongoing reforms in the Abia state health sector under the administration of governor Alex Otti, which has impacted more 157,462 Abians enrolling to access healthcare under the Abia state Health Insurance Scheme as at date.
The state Information Commissioner Prince Okey Kanu announced this yesterday to journalists at Government House after the weekly state executive council meeting , stating that the Scheme was effected by the state Governor, Dr Alex Otti’s vision to provide the citizens healthcare access with financial protection.
He said that the Governor has approved the employment of more 50 nurses to add to the 500 employed under the Human Resource Programme and recruitment of medical personnel for government hospitals.
He recalled that governor Otti had approved that 771 medical personnel be employed across different categories, during which process, total of 550 Nurses were to be recruited
He made known that following its inaugural accreditation, the Abia State College of Nursing Sciences received a boost recently for its National Diploma programme, during the visit of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
‘The NBTE Team during its inspection visit was very impressed with the massive remodelling of the school’s facilities and training programme and commended the state governor ‘s massive transformation of the state health sector’.
Commissioner Kanu noted that Abia state is collaborating with the USA MedShare Group on the training of technicians on the repair and maintenance of hospital Equipment in the state to ensure sustainable healthcare delivery, and that the training collaboration covers the use of surgical equipment in the hospitals, which would enable health workers to operate the machines being brought into the state healthcare facilities.
Elatedly, the Information Commissioner asserted that no positive case of diseases of public health importance like Lassa fever, Mpox, Diphtheria, Yellow fever, Cholera and Rabies has been reported in the state over a long period.
Recently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a donation of a one million dollar 1.5 Tesla MRI Scanner to Abia state to support the ongoing healthcare transformation agenda of the governor Alex Otti led administration.
According to the Commissioner, the donation of the MRI Scanner that will be installed at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba, is in recognition of the massive transformation going on in the health sector of the state, that the Church made the donation.
‘The donation, which will complement the medical services being offered in the state-of-the-art medical facilities across the state will also boost medical diagnosis in the state.
‘This gesture is in line with the Governor’s vision for other state-of-the-art medical facilities to improve the quality of their service offerings through global health collaborations’.
Also the state Health Commissioner Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, who was in attendance during Commissioner Kanu’s interaction with journalists, announced that the state government will collaborate with the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) to carry out 2026 free medical outreach in the state, and beconed Abians to avail themselves for this free medical outreach scheduled from 12 – 17 April 2026.
He explained that while the general surgeries and most medical consultations will hold at the Aba General Hospital, Eye Care Surgeries and consultations will be at the Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, at Umuahia, the state capital.
‘There would also be a training arm, where the state health workers will receive training from the USA experts, to further enhance their competence’.
Speaking further on the ongoing health Reform of governor Otti administration, the Health Commissioner, reported that the healthcare reform project of Governor Otti is yielding impressive results.
He recalled the case of a woman with complications and seizure (Eclampsia), who was recently delivered of twin babies in a Primary Health Centre (PHC) facility.
‘Just recently, a medical feat, occurred at the Ohiya primary health care centre which was retrofitted by governor Otti.
‘A woman with a complicated obstetric condition, known as Eclampsia, with twin pregnancy, was successfully delivered. Eclampsia is a very life-threatening condition that is characterized by the presence of protein in urine, high blood pressure, and convulsion fits, and is usually one of the causes of maternal mortality and infant mortality.
Before now, there was no way you can handle this case in the primary health care centre. But because we now have labour rooms that have oxygen, they have all the equipment, even the resuscitation for infants, when they are born in that kind of condition. Of course, what happened was that a doctor was around and he quickly delivered the woman.
