Director General of Cross River State Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Vivien Mesembe Otu has revealed that the healthcare delivery was devastated and characterized by decaying infrastructure, massive under staffing, loss of public trust and lack of drugs before the current government.
Addressing journalists, weekend, when they visited a primary healthcare centre in Calabar, Otu said most of the medical facilities were dilapidated and unfit for human use.
She disclosed further that the poor state of infrastructure and inadequate attention forced pregnant women and other patients to patronize native doctors, traditional birth attendants and chemists.
She, however, claimed that the situation has improved today, following the steady attention paid to the healthcare by sector Governor Bassey Otu’s administration.
“The Primary Health Care, PHC, system in the state has undergone a dramatic transformation with 94 health facilities already renovated, digitalization ongoing across 196 wards, and immunization rates topping national charts
Dr Otu explained that funding from multiple sources—including the World Bank-supported IMPACT Project, the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), and direct state government allocations—has facilitated the ongoing renovation of facilities across all 18 local government areas.
“These renovations include the installation of solar-powered electricity, solar boreholes for 24/7 water supply, and complete medical equipment for maternal and child healthcare.”;
Otu added that each renovated center also comes with a Mama Kit, a fully stocked childbirth package containing essentials for both mother and baby.
“All the mother needs to bring to the hospital is herself and the pregnancy,”; she said.
She added that 196 skilled birth attendants have been recruited, along with over 380 newly employed healthcare workers, to address the longstanding manpower deficit.
