Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State Government has hinted of possible closure of traditional birth homes in the state to reduce infant and maternal mortality rate.
This is coming on the heels of a noticable decline in the number of deliveries by skilled birth attendants in the state.
Deputy Governor Ikechukwu Emetu who gave the hint during a quarterly meeting of the State’s Taskforce on Primary Health Care, decried the archaic practice which he identified as the major cause of maternal and child mortality.
The Deputy Governor who said that the Governor Alex Otti-led administration placed high premium on health, vowed that whatever posed threat to lives would be treated as emergency.
He called for collaboration with religious, traditional, and community leaders to support immunization efforts and improve healthcare access in the state.
Emetu stressed the need for continuous and successful immunisation of children in the state, adding that the need to make primary health care active cannot be down-played.
He noted that the current administration in the state was making concerted efforts to make rural communities accessible through motorable roads as part of strategies for effective immunisation.
“Immunisation is very essential and Gov. Alex Otti is very intentional about it. The massive road transformation makes access to our communities very easy for immunisation officials,” he noted.
On the action points agreed during last year’s meeting of the taskforce with the foreign partners, the Deputy Governor said Government was poised to ensure implementation.
He directed the Abia State Primary Health Care Development Agency to immediately apply, through the Ministry of Health, for the vehicles needed for the movement of vaccines to PHCs, assuring prompt approval by the Governor.
He also assured that Government would ensure timely payment of its counterpart funds to enable the state benefit fully from funds by donor agencies.
The Deputy Governor apologised for delays in payment of field workers that participated in immunisation and catch-up exercises in the state, assuring that action would be taken immediately.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Abia State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Kalu Ulu Kalu, said that the essence of the stakeholders’ meeting was to review activities of the taskforce and adopt strategies to overcome observed challenges.
He commended Government for the on-going construction of 200 health centres across the state, expressing optimism that Abia could win the 2025 National Leadership Award in Primary Health Care.
Dr Kalu also thanked the Deputy Governor for his passion for PHCs, describing it as unprecedented.
In a remark, the Abia State Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Bernard Egwu, also commended Abia State Government for its resolve to build 200 PHCs in the state.
The NPHCDA boss who said the agency provided over 3 million vaccines to the state in 2024, pledged continued support of the agency to Abia State.
Hinting that the agency targets to train 2000 Abia health workers, assured that it would keep training frontline health workers for better results.
He, however, frowned at the withholding of funds released to the state by the agency, threatening that henceforth, any non-utilised funds would be refunded.
The NPHCDA boss particularly expressed displeasure over the reported non-payment of those who participated in the catch-up programme in six local government areas in the state many months ago even when the agency had released the money to the state.
In his remark, the State Coordinator of World Health Organization, WHO, Dr Jibrim Alkasim, stressed the need for the implementation of action points already developed by the taskforce.
WHO which observed an increase in the number of un-immunised children in the first quarter of 2025, called for more impacts of PHC to be felt in the state.
Contributing also, UNICEF represented by Ephraim Chukwu, called for proper deployment of field workers for vaccine coverage.
UNICEF commended the commitment of the Abia State Government towards improving PHCs, and pledged UNICEF continued support to the state in both equipment and vaccines.
In a remark, the Chairman, Association of Catholic Medical Directors, Dr Sam Ohaeri, promised to resolve the hitherto bottlenecks in accessing Catholic churches for immunisation.
Meanwhile, statistical update presented at the meeting indicated that Abia recorded a substantial increase in “Penta 3 Coverage” exercise in 2024 after scoring 74% out of the 85% targeted.
According to the statistics, Abia came second in the South-East behind Anambra and ahead of Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi States in PHC performance in 2024.
There was, however, a drop in family planning and delivery by skilled birth attendants within the period under review.
The stakeholders called for timely payment of the state’s counterpart funding as well as timely release of all approvals to field workers during immunisation campaigns.
They also demanded that the Governor visits at least one PHC every quarter, while council chairmen are also to replicate same in their respective councils.
Council Chairmen were also encouraged to hold similar strategic quarterly meetings in their councils with necessary stakeholders including traditional rulers and religious leaders in attendance.
The need for media engagement for effective immunisation campaigns was also stressed by the participants.
