Ebonyi State government said that it had adopted a long-term plan to boost manpower in the health sector and as well to retain the workforce to render services in the state.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ekuma who made this known while interacting with journalists at Abakaliki during the weekend, expressed the readiness of the state government under the watch of Governor Francis Nwifuru to transform the health sector in the state.
Dr Ekuma recalled that on his assumption of office as a Commissioner, the Governor approved the employment of health workers, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others in the state general hospitals.
He said the state government had given incentives to the health workers, began payment of a rural allowance for the health workforce at the hinterlands, provided fuel allowance to them and renovated their quarters in the then 14 (now 15) general hospitals in the state.
The Commissioner noted that the step has attracted many qualified health workers from Ebonyi and other states in Nigeria and even those from outside the country to apply for work in the state.
"This is why many health workers are applying to work in Ebonyi, unlike other states where they are leaving their states. Their applications are pending, and some of them came from the popular Saudi Arabia; they are in our service at Ebonyi State Ministry of Health.
"We also made a long-term plan to retain health workers in the state. We have two health training institutions in the state, that's the College of Nursing Uburu and the School of Health Technologies, where we offer some students scholarships so that they can work with us after graduation.
"It's not only that, we have upgraded the institutions, for instance, the School of Nursing, Uburu has been upgraded to the College of Nursing and Midwifery - the institution can award High National Diploma, it's now a monotechnic and one can gain admission into it through JAMB, courtesy of the present Governor of Ebonyi State.
"These are some of His Excellency's efforts in addressing the issue of manpower in the health sector. The same thing with the College of Health Technologies Ngbo. We went and discovered that many things had gone wrong there, but as I speak, the three courses offered by the school, including Community Health, Health Information and Environmental Health programmes, have got accreditation.
"We plan to include other courses like Laboratory Technology, Pharmacy, and others in the institution to boost manpower in the health sector of Ebonyi State. The way things are going, health workers are needed most times and that's why Ebonyi State government is determined to build manpower in the health sector through these steps.
"The second one is equipment because there is no need to talk about having general hospitals without equipping them as doctors don't work with bare hands. They need equipment to help them treat the patients appropriately. We went and did an inventory of the health facility needs; it was more of an evidence-based one. The cost plan and award were done, and the Ministry has carried out the equipment delivery worth billions of Naira in the hospitals and is still expecting more, especially the heavy modern machines. Currently, we don't have a problem of diagnosing common ailments in the general hospitals.
"We had challenges of drugs, but we recommended on assumption of office to establish an agency by drafting and sending a bill to the State House of Assembly. That's the Drug and Medical Commodities Agency Bill; it was passed into law after it went through normal processes in the State House Assembly before the governor assented to it.
"The law today empowers us to procure drugs directly from the manufacturers, and all the public health facilities in the state must procure their drugs from the agency from our central medical store a large warehouse, by so doing we are sure of the drugs not being fake, the price being lesser, and other benefits," the Health Commissioner said.
He disclosed that over 40,000 Ebonyi residents have been enrolled on the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Agency, EBSHIA, through the support of Governor Nwifuru and his wife's pet project - Better Health for Rural Women, Children and Internally Displaced Persons BERWO Foundation as part of helping the less privileged ones and children under five in the state.
He equally revealed the state government's plan to build a drug cold room in the three senatorial districts in Ebonyi State for easy accessibility, adding that immunization exercise has been improved optimally in the state.
