Since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999, only Delta State has had the fortune of having two medical doctors – Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, the incumbent and his predecessor, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, as governors. As medical practitioners, it is logical that one of the areas their administrations will concentrate on is in the area of healthcare. True to that expectation, the combination set the stage for the building of a strong and effective healthcare delivery system in the state.
That Nigeria has a coherent health insurance policy today is down to Dr. Okowa, who as a serving senator and member of the Senate Committee on Health, introduced the landmark National Health Bill (NHB) which was passed at the red chamber on February 24, 2014 and became the vehicle for revolutionising healthcare delivery in Nigeria. The Act laid the legal and financial framework for the establishment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) that made health care more accessible and affordable for participants in the scheme.
From its teething years in 1991 when it was created, Delta State has had to build a new health infrastructure from scratch, a venture that picked momentum when Chief James Onanefe Ibori took the mantle of leadership in 1999.
As governor of Delta State, Dr. Okowa had a ready blueprint for improved healthcare delivery in the state. Beyond the easily visible physical structures associated with the health system, Okowa keyed into using creative measures to maintain the structures already in place and improved the quality of service delivery.
The state of primary healthcare delivery, one of the pillars of the health sector, is of utmost importance. While there are over 24,000 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in the country, less than 5,000 are functional. Okowa introduced the Access to Finance Framework initiative that engenders a Public-Private Partnership as a panacea to lack of quality service delivery at the primary healthcare level.
The Delta State Contributory Health Commission (DSCHC) which commenced operations on January 1, 2017, the first such agency among the states, now has a total of 900,000 (about 15% of the population). To give vent to the Universal Health Coverage in the state, the Okowa administration rehabilitated 65 secondary healthcare facilities and 209 primary healthcare centres including the engagement of 52 standard private healthcare providers for the scheme.
The health insurance scheme is the product of the programmes in infrastructural projects put in place over the years.
Few months after he assumed office in 2007, Dr. Uduaghan launched the Free Maternal Health Programme at the Central Hospital Ughelli in Ughelli North Local Government Area. The services which initially included ante-natal care, deliveries including caesarean sections as well as essential laboratory tests were later expanded to include management of ectopic pregnancies and complications of abortions as well as blood transfusion services.
The goal is to reduce maternal mortality by more than 50 per cent. The initiative led to flooding of patients to hospitals and other medical facilities across the state.
There is also the Free Under Five Medical Care Programme flagged off by Dr. Uduaghan on May 27, 2010 at Central Hospital, Sapele. Under the programme, free medical services were offered for all kinds of ailments for children who are between the ages of 0-5 years. The free medical care for pregnant women and children under five years have proven to be one of the bastions of improved healthcare in the state.
Since 2007, a total of 390 projects which cut across the three senatorial districts and affect the three tiers of health institutions: primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions were embarked upon by government. To equip the health facilities, the state government has spent the sum of N6 billion. Some of the health institutions that have been completed and made functional include Government Hospital, Uzere, Government Hospital, Ubulu-Uku, Government Hospital, Onicha Olona, Government Hospital, Ogriegbene and Government Hospital, Abigborodo. The state government having taken over the Eku Baptist Hospital in November 2009, has upgraded almost all the facilities. The hospital has also been equipped with updated medical equipment to facilitate training of health care providers.
Other major projects executed at various health institutions include the renovation and re-equipping of the children’s ward at the General Hospital, Patani; renovation, equipping and upgrading of Cottage Hospital, Abavo, to the full status of an ultra-modern general hospital in addition to the procurement of a brand new ambulance.
Also on the list of completed projects include procurement of nine oxygen concentrators and installed in selected general hospitals spread across the three senatorial zones in the state; supply of 10,000 units ‘mama kits’ to health centres in the state; renovation and remodification of Central Hospital, Agbor; repair of faulty medical equipment in ten hospitals across the three senatorial districts; special grant to Delta State University Teaching Hospital, (DELSUTH), for major equipment repairs, including MRI, CT Scan, mobile X-ray equipment and rehabilitation of power supply system; establishment of sickle cell clinics at various hospitals in the state including those at Ughelli, Sapele, Eku, Oleh, Patani, Agbor and Kwale, among others.
In a landmark venture, the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSMC) to develop a center of excellence for kidney transplant and treatment of kidney related diseases.
It took between 14 and 16 months to set up the fields of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation of internationally acceptable standards at DELSUTH.
Specifically, this required improvement of the dialysis center, the laboratory, radiology and theatre departments of DELSUTH into centers of excellence.
To achieve this, the state government in 2013 enhanced the infrastructure and equipment at DELSUTH as well as the capacity of the personnel.
DELSUTH has successfully carried out knee replacement as well as cement-free hip replacement surgeries which are major surgery procedures rarely undertaken in Nigeria. In fact, the cement-free hip surgery carried out by DELSUTH, at Oghara was the first of its kind in Nigeria.
Mordi sent this piece from Delta.
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