ANAMBRA TO BUILD MORE RADIOGRAPHY STATIONS, EMPLOY 150 TECHNICIANS – HEALTH COMMISSIONER

By Chris Chikelue/Azuka Nnabuife

Anambra State Government is building more Radiography stations in the state to cater for the treatment of Tuberculosis and other Non-Communicable Diseases.

This was revealed by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike in Awka while receiving a Multinational Health Organization, The Data for Implementation (Data.FI), stationed in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and the Non-Communicable Disease (KNCD) International.

The commissioner added that the government will also employ over 150 Radiographers and Technicians who will man the machines, ‘’and we are starting off immediately,’’ he said.

He said that the efforts of the state government still remains to make the treatment of TB and other ailments like the HIV/AIDS free vis-à-vis making the availability of its test kits handy in government controlled healthcare centres.

“We are building a radiography hub in Anambra State to boost the already functional ones at different medical centres like the College of Health at Obosi. We are also building a University of Allied Health Sciences and Radiography and this is one of the areas we are concentrating at this time.

“We are concentrating on the most populous areas of the state, for instance Fegge Onitsha is one of the most populous areas; there is a specialist hospital situated there by the state and we are employing a radiographer there.

“We have seven radiography machines already. Additional five machines will be distributed to Anambra State making it a total of 12.

“The new machines will be distributed to Ayamelum General Hospital, General Hospital Umueri, we will put in Okpoko General Hospital where there is already radiographer and we will put in General Hospital, Umunze, General Hospital, Ekwulobia and one will go to Our Lady of Lourdes, Ihiala.’’

The commissioner frowned at health workers in government health facilities sabotaging government efforts to get quality healthcare services to the people by collecting payments for services the state government has directed to be free.

He said “we may not be able to check private health facilities because they have to maximize profits and pay their workers but for workers and facilities of the government we must have a schedule of getting to them and knowing what they are doing. With data and sensitization we can be able to weigh into these sabotages.

“Tuberculosis is more structured in my state and I am grateful to the workers in charge. I also want especially the HIV/AIDs section of the Healthcare delivery to be well equipped with tools and test kits.

“We will utilize these machines where they will give our people the deserved service; we should build facilities that we ourselves also can use.

“We have chosen facilities close to populated areas and the people with income earnings; poverty has a way of derailing the desire for good health so we need to install our facilities and services where it is mostly needed and could benefit the low trodden in the society.’’

The Country Director, Data.FI Palladium, Abuja, Dr. Otse Ogorry while disclosing the reason for the visit said, “we visited to intimate the Honourable Commissioner on the work that Data.FI is doing in Anambra State and this work include supporting the existing TB Situation Room and other Data Management support for the state.

“It include a whole lot of things touching the Activities in the Situation Room, Data Analysis, Data management, Data Transmission, Data Reporting and that Anambra State Data could identify the gaps in the TB Data collation.

“While doing all these we want to be sure that we are able to address these gaps based on informed data and coming from a place of information and we will need to be doing this work with the Anambra State team going forward just to improve data services in the.”

The lead representative of the Non-Communicable Disease (KNCD), in the entourage, Dr. Odume Bertrand described Anambra State as one of the states in the country with a strongest ratings of the group and with this three projects are being built in the state for the development of the treatments for non-communicable diseases.

He said, “we equally have the Global Fund Community Reclaim Project and we have expanded our footprint to all the states in the country and FCT. It is called the impact project.

“Why I decided to come is because of the Impact Project. Impact itself is actually in two phases, the one for community and the one for the facility creation.

“We are doing this because across the states we have used in this funded project the one in the community is being funded through a mission, and we need the state government to employ Technicians and Radiographers to man these stations henceforth.

“The PDFs we had been using in the community outreach programmes were actually engaged through the staff from PDFs, there is a radiographer or a radiography technician and there is a data assistant, in as much as the outreach is concerned.

“One person is handling the machine, another is keying in the data bearing with logistics and a whole lot of things and for them to even go to the communities comes with its own additional costs. We have our programmes; remembering how much they will need in monetary form becomes a problem here when they work in the community.

With the prayer that the money will continue to flow through Globafund the project.’’

Chris and Azuka are of the Ministry of Information, Anambra State