By: Vitalis Ugoh,Calabar
Cross River government has restated its commitment in strengthening the healthcare system in the state for accessible, affordable and quality service delivery to the citizenry, especially the vulnerable and downtrodden.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Ayuk, disclosed this at a press briefing to mark the 2024 World Health Day in the state
According to him, the state government plans to upgrade 450 primary health centres (PHCs) that will be fully functional from the current pool of over about 1043 facilities across the State.
“Government intends to intensify the upgrade of the PHC architecture and double the number of functional PHCs in the current fiscal year through the pooling of resources. Through this pooling, about 196 primary health centers – one per ward – have been strengthened for functional service delivery. Government intends to continue with this collaboration”.
“We intend to achieve over 75 to 100 percent improvement in engagement of critical health workers this year to ensure at least three to four doctors per hospital as well as one doctor in each LGA/PHC system, Dr Ayuk assured”.
The Commissioner emphasised that the Government of Governor Otu is poised to leverage on universal healthcare coverage (UHC) to meet the health needs of the people, amid global concerns over diseases and natural disasters becoming the leading causes of deaths and disabilities, with “My Health, My Right” drummed as the theme of the 2024 World Health Day.
“In Cross River, the leadership of His Excellency, Prince Bassey Otu, is making efforts to make ensure that all local government areas in the state have functional hospitals, as evident in the upgrade of the primary health centre at Ikom to a General Hospital. In addition, the Cottage Hospital Oban and a few others are being renovated to meet the health needs of the citizens of the state,” he stated.
Dwelling on the theme of the 2024 World Health Day – “My Health, My Right,” the Health Commissioner said: “Access to quality healthcare should not be seen as a privilege but one’s right; therefore, we will ensure that quality service delivery is maintained,” he averred.
Also speaking, WHO’s Cross River State Coordinator, Dr Olatunde Yewande, who was represented by the organization’s Surveillance Officer, Glory Archibong, said the World Health Organization is willing to key into the present administration’s health agenda.
“We are here to assure the State Government that WHO remains committed to supporting Cross River State in disease surveillance, outbreak response, PHC revitalization, routine immunization, etc, to ensure that all residents of the State have access to quality, equitable and affordable healthcare services, she concluded”.
