Soludo seeks partnership with FG on healthcare for Anambra residents

Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra governor, has sought for a synergy with the federal government to meet the health needs of residents. 

Soludo spoke while receiving Muhammad Pate, minister for health and social welfare, at the governor’s lodge in Amawbia.

Soludo praised Pate for his “commendable work in recognising that human capital is vital to development, with health being its core”.

He said Nigeria’s low life expectancy is a concern, and that his administration is focused on primary healthcare to ensure accessibility and affordability for all.

The governor added that more than 60,000 people have benefitted from free antenatal care and delivery services due to his administration’s “targeted interventions in the health sector”.

He noted that his administration is focused on “providing potable water, sanitation, and waste management for a larger number of Anambra people”.

“I see room for partnership in this regard. Strategic partnership along this chain will get it to work,” Soludo added.

The governor harped on his administration’s public-private-community-partnership (PPCP) model.

“The programmes we implement here are not only for Anambra but for Nigeria,” he said.

“When we assumed office, seventy-eight percent of our people accessed healthcare through private institutions, but today, as we are providing for their health needs, the number is decreasing.”

The governor said his administration is “building general hospitals and strengthening the primary healthcare system across the 326 political wards of the state”.

He expressed optimism that Anambra would become “a drug manufacturing point”, significantly enhancing quality assurance in the region.

In his response, Pate commended Soludo’s dedication to service delivery for Anambra, while promising synergy between the state and the federal government in the health sector.

Some of the attendees were Ernest Ezeajughi, chief of staff to the governor; Afam Obidike, health commissioner; Godwin Nnadozie, special adviser to the governor on medical and pharmaceutical matters; Okechukwu Itanyi, former deputy governor of Enugu State; Sir Ikenna, majority leader of the state house of assembly; Joseph Ugboaja, chief medical director of NAUTH; Joe Akabuike, chief medical director of COOUNTH; Emeka Offor, among others.