Health
Health Of The State
The Rivers State Government has since the Governor Amaechi-led administration, taken healthcare delivery a notch higher than its predecessors.
The healthcare policies of the State have been expanded to make healthcare delivery accessible to and affordable by all residents of the State since the last one year of Governor Amaechi’s second term in office.
Whereas the State operated free medical service to children of six years and below and adults of 60 years and above in his first tenure, the programme is now open to all residents of the State who can show prove of residency and tax payments. Under this scheme, residents, irrespective of whether they are indigenes or not could register and enjoy the services without any hitches.
Also, of the 160 Primary Health Centres that the administration promised as provide in the State, 118 have been completed and inuse after the first 60 were commissioned in the governor’s first tenure.
According to the Director Public Health, of the State ministry of Health, Akuro Okujagu, each of the healthcentres have one doctor with the health centres in high density areas having two or three as the case may be.
Under the Amaechi-led administration, the emergency response service called the Emergency Medical Service has also being given a boost since the last one year. The EMS comprises of ambulances which are centralized with the base at Braithwaite Memorial Special Hospital (BMSH) while the ambulances are located at specific points across the State which when a call is put through to the base an ambulance closest to the victim is dispatched.
The State has also put marine ambulances at strategic positions across the riverine areas to cover the difficult to reach places to deliver quality and affordable healthcare to the people.
During the recent outbreak of lassa fever, the State rapidly put together 20 member rapid response team to sensitise and educate the public on the dangers the situation posed.
The State also sponsored and equipped a ward at UPTH to secure victims of the lassa rats. Also equipment and personal protection equipment were bought for health workers to wear as well as vehicles.
In its bid to eliminate mosquito from the State, serious interventions against the vector has intensified where the State concluded in collaboration with Cuban authority plans to build a bio-larvicidal factory where the larvicide could be produced to destroy mosquitoes.
The State was embarked on aerial spraying and the distribution of long lasting insecticidal nets and billions of bottles of bio-larvicides to kill the vector larval stage.
In all the Rivers State Health Sector, has witnessed revolutionary changes since the advent of the government of His Excellency Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi in October 2007.
Vision of The Amaechi Government
The State Government under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has adopted a system of health-care whose thrust is anchored on Primary Care with the following specific objectives:
Provision of quality and standard health facilities, provision of efficient, effective and affordable health services, availability of well qualified and motivated staff at all health facilities, provision of health services to vulnerable groups at government cost, co-ordinated State Health Plan supported by appropriate budgetary allocation, in order to ensure that any health policy adopted is implemented, the State has made adequate budgetary provision for health.
Strategies for Implementation of Vision
In order to implement the vision of Government, the following strategies were adopted, Health Summit for all Stakeholders in health was held on 5th & 6th February 2008, Governor Chibuike Amaechi held meeting with Doctors in the State on the way forward in the health sector. So far, three other such meetings have been held during the period under review, Health Insurance Conference to determine the best option in its implementation (27th & 28th May 2008), budgetary allocation to Health meeting WHO standard for the first time in the history of the State, adoption of Public-Private Partnership in health resulting the several projects being carried out simultaneously for the first time in the State.
These strategies yielded results, some of which are tabulated below as follows:
To ensure proper service integration among all levels of health care through the establishment of a Primary Health Care Board, Manpower development programme should be put in place, Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) is accepted and workable especially in areas of scarcity and deficiencies. Government should commit to the funding and implementation of all aspects of PPP in health on a continuous basis, there should be sustained maintenance culture of all infrastructure and equipment, Infrastructural Development for health, development of a Co-ordinated State wide Health Plan, government should take responsibility for the health of the vulnerable in the society.
As a result, the following steps have been taken.
Re-orientation workshop for Heads of health establishments (Ministry, Hospitals, health units in LGA) held from 4th – 8th August 2008 as a first step, re-training of all categories of staff is being planned, recruitment of Staff to address the severe manpower shortages is ongoing, Construction of Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte Mega Hospital at a site within the Greater Port Harcourt is being undertaken at the cost of $150million on a PPP basis, maintenance contracts are being instituted for different equipment in the Hospitals, government has embarked on massive infrastructural development especially Primary Health Centres and Hospitals.
Other Strategies Employed for Implementation of Vision include:
Employment of doctors, nurses and other health workers to man the primary health centres, provision of Social Insurance through the Free Medical Care Programme and overseas treatment programme, expansion of Emergency Medical Services with the provision of a Base Station and call center with emergency telephone services to cater for all emergencies, strengthening of existing special programmes as follows:
Creation of the State Agency on HIV/AIDS, presentation of Executive Bill on the establishment of Primary Health Care Development Board, World Bank supported Malaria Control Booster Project.
Integrated Mother, Neonatal & Child Health (IMNCH) strategy inaugurated in partnership with the Institute of Child Health in UNIPORT), constitution of Task Force on Health and Allied Health Institutions, establishment of a Reference Medical Laboratory in BMSH, provision of Standard accommodation for Medical Interns, re-accreditation of the Department of Family Medicine for post-graduate training, an Auto-disabled Syringe factory, which will also manufacture intravenous fluids has been completed and commissioned with technical partnership from Pan African Health Foundation. The factory shall be expanded in the next few years to serve the total syringe needs of the country and West Africa.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
Two United States scientists who unraveled the human micro RNA have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the coveted prize for their work on microRNA as their discoveries help explain how complex life emerged on earth and how the human body is made up of a wide variety of different tissues.
MicroRNAs influence how genes – the instructions for life – are controlled inside organisms, including humans.
Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.
However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.
The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood.
The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.
So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.
The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.
The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
“It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun acting to curb effects of antibiotic pollution.
The new guidance on wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing sheds light on this important but neglected challenge ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) taking place on 26 September 2024.
The emergence and spread of AMR caused by antibiotic pollution could undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics globally, including the medicines produced at the manufacturing sites responsible for the pollution.
Despite high antibiotic pollution levels being widely documented, the issue is largely unregulated and quality assurance criteria typically do not address environmental emissions. In addition, once distributed, there is a lack of information provided to consumers on how to dispose of antibiotics when they are not used, for example, when they expire or when a course is finished but there is still antibiotic left over.
“Pharmaceutical waste from antibiotic manufacturing can facilitate the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria, which can spread globally and threaten our health. Controlling pollution from antibiotic production contributes to keeping these life-saving medicines effective for everyone,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for AMR ad interim.
Globally, there is a lack of accessible information on the environmental damage caused by manufacturing of medicines.
“The guidance provides an independent and impartial scientific basis for regulators, procurers, inspectors, and industry themselves to include robust antibiotic pollution control in their standards,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, WHO. “Critically, the strong focus on transparency will equip buyers, investors and the general public to make decisions that account for manufacturers’ efforts to control antibiotic pollution.”
In a concerted effort to curb brain drain, the Kebbi State Government has harmonised medical doctors’ salaries to be at par with their colleagues in the federal government’s tertiary health facilities.
Kebbi State Commissioner for Health, Musa Inusa-Isma’il, disclosed this at the handing over of ambulances to the state-owned health facilities at the Ministry of Health in Birnin Kebbi yesterday.
Inusa Isma’il, according to a statement by Ahmed Idris, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the essence of the harmonisation was to retain the existing medical doctors and attract more to the services of the state.
According to him, the doctors across the state had already started enjoying the new salaries from August 2024.
He said the release of the vehicles was in fulfilment of Governor Nasir Idris’ promise to uplift health care services in the state.
“His Excellency said I should inform you, the beneficiaries of this gesture, that the vehicle should be strictly used for the intended purpose. It should not be used for anything else.
“If there is no referral case, each of the vehicles must be parked at the hospital by 6 pm. The governor said you should warn your drivers against reckless driving as well as violating the instructions.
“We should also do everything possible to reciprocate the gesture by working according to the terms and conditions attached,” he advised.
The benefiting health facilities included Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi; State Teaching Hospital, Kalgo; General Hospital, Argungu; General Hospital, Yauri; General Hospital, Zuru; and General Hospital, Bunza.
In his speech, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Shehu Koko, recalled that the ambulances were handed over to the ministry last Friday by the governor for the onward handover to the benefiting hospitals.
He observed that the ambulances would go a long way in improving the referral system in the state, adding that delays in reaching the secondary and tertiary facilities would be eliminated.
The permanent secretary attributed the high rate of maternal mortality in the country to delays in getting to the health facilities for proper medical care.
“We believe with the provision of these ambulances, part of the gaps we have in our referral system will be addressed, whereby patients who require secondary healthcare could be easily transported to secondary and tertiary health centres, where they can get such help,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Commissioner for Information and Culture Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed expressed gratitude to the governor for the support he has given to the ministry to excel.
While advising the beneficiaries to use the vehicles judiciously, the commissioner advised that services and maintenance of the vehicles must be prompt to derive the maximum benefits from the vehicles.
The commissioner also highlighted some achievements recorded by the government in the last year, including beautification of the state capital, completion of a multimillion-naira ultramodern state secretariat, road construction, construction and renovation of classrooms and upgrading of some health facilities, among others.