The Anambra State Commissioner for health, Dr Joe Akabuike has disclosed that three hospitals in the state namely, Onitsha, Enugwu Ukwu and Ekwulobia General Hospitals, are to be upgraded to centres of excellence in medicine.

He said that the move is part of the state government’s efforts to take secondary health care to the next level.

The commissioner, who at the occasion of the commissioning of the first CT Scan in the state capital acquired by Eldorado Multi Specialist Hospital, said the new centres of excellence would complement the state-owned Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital in Awka in providing comprehensive healthcare services in the state.

Speaking through the director of primary healthcare and disease control in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Emmanuel Okafor, the health commissioner stressed that the three hospitals earmarked for upgrading were strategically located in the three senatorial zones of the state to ensure adequate coverage of the populace.

He also explained that over 60 Primary Health Care centers across the state would be properly equipped to ensure adequate coverage of immunization and other activities in the rural areas.

Earlier in his address, an official of Eldorado Hospital said the clinic is a one stop hospital with the vision to render specialist services comparable to best standards in the practice of medicine.

In his words: “Our CT Scan is one of the latest radiological diagnostic equipment that sees inside the body from head to toe and takes multiple images that can be seen in three dimensional views, unlike the X-ray.

“It will detect any internal bleeding, which makes it compulsory in serious accidents and in-patients with stroke and can also detect organ enlargements and any abnormal growth in the body.”

While stating that the CT scan is not only meant for sick people, he explained the need for Nigerians to routinely check their system to determine their health status.

In his speech, the vice chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Dr. Izuchukwu Okeke commended the management of the hospital for bringing the equipment to Awka, promising that doctors in the area would help to spread the information on the existence of the CT Scan in the state in order to stop people from travelling outside the state for such services.

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