Abia State Government has received medical equipment and supplies worth over N180 million from a United States of America based organisation, Commission for Urgent Response and Equipment (C. U. R. E.).

Speaking to newsmen in Umuahia, Abia State Commissioner for Health, Dr Gozie Ahukannah, confirmed that the medical equipment and supplies which arrived the state during the weekend will be deployed to enhance healthcare delivery in the state. He further stated that all levels of Healthcare in Abia State would benefit from the shipments, from primary care through secondary to tertiary levels of care.

The Commissioner assured that the medical equipment shipment would be on a regular basis in keeping with the Governor's vow to Abians to improve the quality of medical services they receive in the State.

“The materials were donated by C.U.R.E. in USA but the shipment was facilitated by Abia State Government and we are expecting more”, he said.

The delivery which is a response to Governor Ikpeazu’s call to Abians in the Diaspora to support the development agenda of his administration was facilitated by Dr Ngozi Ogbonna-Erondu, Coordinator of Abia State Diaspora Brain Trust/ Special Adviser to the Governor on Diaspora Affairs, Dr (Mrs) Ocheze Ikpeazu-Ugboaja, Mr Mac Azuogu and the Chairman of the State’s Medical equipment and Supplies Committee, Dr Mike Enyinnah, is the third batch of medical supplies and equipment received by the state from the United States of America.

Speaking to newsmen in government house Umuahia while unveiling the materials, Dr Enyinnah informed that the current batch of equipment and supplies will be handed over to the management of Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba, to support the establishment of a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and improve tertiary healthcare delivery to citizens and residents of the state.

According to him, “This is the third batch of medical supplies we are receiving from the United States of America after Governor Ikpeazu visited the CEO of C.U.R.E, Dr James Jackson, in Denver Colorado USA and the team’s visit to Abia to assess the needs of the state in medical equipment and supplies.

“Governor Ikpeazu has continued to innovate and engage private and public organizations at home and abroad to ensure improvements in healthcare delivery in the state with a view to ending medical tourism by Abians. I can assure you that the materials we have received compare favourably with the best available in the African continent and the western world.”

He also informed that the government spent eleven million naira to ship, clear and transport the materials which were packaged in a 40ft container that arrived the state last week.

It will be recalled that the state government had previously received various mobility aid equipment for physically challenged persons, which were distributed across the 17 LGAs of the state and another batch of medical supplies which were distributed to primary and secondary healthcare facilities in the state.

Among the equipment in the current delivery are oxygen concentrators, high tech monitors, nebulizers, dental chair, ICU beds, suction machines, delivery beds, Hoyer lifts, anti-embolism extremity pumps, electric transformers, glucose meters, sphygmomanometers, air mattresses, wheelchairs, stretchers, thermotic gastric drainage pumps, bedside commode and many more.

Also included in the supplies are syringes, dressing materials, feeding tubes, laboratory supplies, pads, adult diapers, infusions, etc, all of which passed through regulatory screening by NAFDAC and other relevant agencies.

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