Here is what to note as Soludo ends the era of LGAs without general hospitals in Anambra

For those who are not familiar with Anambra State, Onitsha South Local Government Area – whose capital is called Fegge and which is home to the famous Niger Bridge, Ochanja Market and CKC College – has been without a public general hospital in the 33 years of Anambra’s existence. Over 300,000 people live in Onitsha South LGA. The case is also the same with Anambra West LGA and Ayamelum LGA (in the case of Ayamelum LGA its only general hospital was gutted by fire in 2012). Fortunately, today, the era of local governments without befitting government general hospitals or specialist hospitals is over.

In a few weeks, Anambra State would have five brand new general hospitals in Fegge (Onitsha South LGA), Ayamelum LGA, Anambra West LGA, Anambra East and in Okpoko in Ogbaru LGA. In fact, the brand-new general hospital in Okpoko – a community that used to be the biggest slum in the south east – will be commissioned in a few weeks. The case of the new general hospitals in Anambra West and Anambra East is also very interesting as these brand-new hospitals are in hard-to-reach areas. Healthcare is being taken to the door steps of people who had in the past agitated that they were left behind. Apart from the 5 brand-new general hospitals, there has been an aggressive drive to revamp existing general hospitals in all the local governments areas. One of the notable examples was the hitherto deteriorated Ekwulobia General Hospital which is now in a befitting condition. The construction of these general hospitals is followed closely with the construction of primary healthcare centers in each of the 326 wards in Anambra State.

The impact of these new hospitals on the healthcare ecosystem and the lives of the residents of Anambra is enormous.

Take, for example, the upgraded general hospital in Ekwulobia, Aguata LGA, which had not been functioning. Before it was revamped, procedures such as the removal of fibroid – in medical jargons known as myomectomy – would have cost an average woman, who is resident in Ekwulobia, over 650,000 naira in a decent private hospital. But today, in Ekwulobia General Hospital, this surgery cost about 150,000 naira.

The synergy between primary healthcare centers and general hospitals in Anambra is growing stronger every day. Today, in Anambra, beneficiaries of the free antenatal and delivery services of the Soludo-led administration are now seamlessly referred to general hospitals from the primary healthcare centers around Anambra State. Hundreds of women who need Cesarean sections to be delivered of their babies are constantly referred to general hospitals. The success story of these free Caesarian sections has been phenomenal. [Governor Soludo’s free antenatal and delivery services also come with free drugs].

There is another good news about the free Caesarian sections (C-sections) in Anambra, championed by the Governor Soludo-led administration. Ordinarily, a working-class household would have paid nothing less than 350,000 naira to have this procedure in many parts of the country. In fact, it could even cost up to 900,000 naira in some low-key private hospitals. Note that we are not yet talking about the cost of this procedure in elite hospitals in Nigeria. But today it is free in Anambra State and it is carried out in well-equipped general hospitals in the state.

Public general hospitals are not primary healthcare centers. They need to have consultants and specialized medical equipment. This is why they are called referral hospitals. To this end, there have been aggressive recruitments of medical personnel in Anambra State in the last 2 years in order to man new primary healthcare centers and general hospitals around the state. New and existing general hospitals are also been aggressively equipped in order to perform various surgeries.

Despite the current macro-economic landscape, investing in the healthcare sector in Anambra State is not negotiable as far as the Governor Soludo-led administration is concerned. This is commendable and should be copied by other subnational governments. Nobody should die in Nigeria because he or she cannot afford a decent healthcare. Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem should not leave any of its citizens behind!

Governor Soludo’s vision for the healthcare ecosystem in Anambra is clear: affordable, quality and universal healthcare coverage are his watchwords. Anambra is in good hands.

Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.