Gov Orji Assures On Quality Health Care

Governor Theodore Orji has assured that his administration would always provide the best of health care services to Abians, especially, women and children.

The governor said to achieve this, his administration has resolved to collaborate with development partners, to give Abia State the best.Orji, spoke during the 2010 Programme Implementation agreement between the state and UNICEF at Government House Umuahia, to which the world body is committing N90.4 million this year.

He said Abia’s partnership with UNICEF was to guarantee the safety of women and children who he noted, constituted the disadvantaged group of every society.He said Abia, in conjuction with the Federal office of Millennium Development Goals, has built and equipped 165 health  centres across the state to make healthcare delivery accessible to the masses, adding that government was also stepping up efforts to provide drugs and equipment as well as post relevant personnel to the health centres.

Our commitment to the health of the people of Abia State is total,” Orji said, adding that UNICEF, under the agreement, was expected to provide technical, material and financial support to enhance the living standard of the people.

“He noted that this “will contribute to the progressive realisation of children’s rights to sanitation, development, protection and participation, with emphasis on reducing disparities and eliminating exclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged children in line with agenda of our government for women and children.

“He pledged that the state would always honour is counterpart funding obligations for the best interest of people of the state.   Earlier, executive secretary of Abia State Planning Commission, Dr Uloma Uruakpa, had said that UNICEF would spend N90.4 million in prosecuting its programmes in Abia this year.

UNICEF spent N57.9 million on its 209 programmes in the state.The Programmed this year would focus on Health and Nutrition, Children and AIDS, Basic Education, Child protection and Social Policy, advocacy  and Communication. Presenting the 2009 Annual Report, Uruakpa said 88 out of every 1000 newborns die in the state, while 145 per 1000 die before five years of age.

She said that 08.8 per cent of Abians have access to improved source of drinking water, while only 49.5 per cent of the people have comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS, leaving the rest ill-prepared to protect themselves from the pandemic. In her speech, the UNICEF Field Officer for Enugu, Mrs Peluci Ntambi Weki, expressed happiness with Abia State Government for partnering with UNICEF, adding that 2010 would provide the agency an opportunity to expand its programmes.

She said that Governor Orji has shown deep commitment to issues of women and children, adding that UNICEF would strengthen Child Rights Law implementation structures, complemented by improved access to free legal counsel and recovery services for children in detention.