The Anambra State government said yesterday that it had concluded arrangements to set up Primary Health Centres in the 326 wards across the 21 local government areas of the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Akabuike, said during a workshop organized by a non-governmental organization, the Civil Rights Concern, CRN, in Awka that the project would be spearheaded by the State Primary Health Care Development Agency.
The commissioner said it was an intervention the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano, had introduced to bring healthcare to the grassroots, explaining that no fewer than 63 health facilities in the state had already been upgraded to world class standard.
Akabuike observed that the healthcare system in the state was neglected for a long time, adding that it was for that reason that Governor Obiano was deploying radical approach to reform the system.
He said: “We didn’t have an organized system before now. What we had was a horizontal and vertical disintegration of the system. “To reform a system takes time. One may not see the result immediately, but I can assure that this administration is doing great in that sector”.
The director of CRN, Mr. Okey Onyeka, who decried the deplorable condition of public health facilities in the state, called for an increased budget in the health sector, as well as a regular presentation of budget performance in the area to enable stakeholders to evaluate it regularly.
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