The Association of Nigerian Physicians in the United States of America (ANPA) would hold 10 days free medical outreach in Abia State to complement the efforts of the state government towards improving the healthcare sector of the state.
During the 10-day medical mission, scheduled for April 4-10, the team would conduct free surgeries on sixty patients with different medical cases, while thousands of others would be given free treatment.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo; and the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee-cum-Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, Professor Azubuike Onyebuchi; disclosed that the team made up of over 60 physicians and experts in different branches of medicine from North and South America, would be involved in the exercise.
They said that surgeries would be conducted simultaneously at three designated centres in the state to include Federal Medical Center (FMC), Umuahia, Abia Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia, and Abia Specialist Hospital, Amachara, Umuahia.
Okoronkwo and Prof. Onyebuchi however, explained that beneficiaries must have been screened and approved before the arrival of the experts from the Americas. They enjoined residents of the state with various health challenges to present themselves for screening at the designated desk offices in all 17 General Hospitals in the state, as well as designated health centers.
According to the Health Commissioner and FMC Chief, the date for the commencement of the screening exercise which would be sponsored by the state government would soon be made public.
This is even as they added that free transport, to and fro the three surgery centres, would be provided by the State Government for patients from distant locations to ease the burden cost on the beneficiaries.
They hinted that various complicated cases including screening for cancer would be carried out during the mission, adding that the foreign doctors would be working with Nigerian-based medical personnel including House Officers, as part of the effort to build capacity and transfer knowledge to the locals.
Okoronkwo and her counterparts who explained that the gesture was in recognition of the commitment of the Dr. Alex Otti-led administration towards improving the health sector, said that the deliberate allocation of 15% of Abia’s 2024 budget estimate to health, was a demonstration of both the commitment and passion of the Governor for a transformed health sector.
According to them, ANPA’s choice of Abia for the medical mission, was an acknowledgement of Governor Otti’s special attention to the health sector, demonstrated by his decision to, within the first six months of his administration, renovate and upgrade the Abia Specialist and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia; Amachara General Hospital, Amachara; and the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba, which facilitated the restoration of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) accreditation of the Abia State University Medical College.
