Otti Deepens Grassroots Healthcare Reforms, Inaugurates Community Health Oversight Team in Isuikwuato

Abia State Government has taken another step towards improving healthcare delivery at the grassroots with the inauguration of the Strategic Community Health Oversight Team (SCHOT) in Isuikwuato Local Government Area.

The SCHOT comprises all the 17 Presidents General in Isuikwuato LGA as members of the team.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, said the initiative was introduced to ensure that communities are not only beneficiaries of government healthcare projects but also actively involved in protecting and monitoring them.

Uche said Governor Alex Otti had continued to give healthcare issues serious attention, stressing that the Governor was particularly concerned about ensuring that government investments reached ordinary residents.

“Anything that has to do with the health of Ndi Abia, he doesn’t joke with it.

“He can call you at any time to discuss the matter and demand that something should be done immediately,” he said.

The Commissioner explained that SCHOT would help communities monitor primary healthcare centres, ensure that health workers report for duty, protect facilities and alert government whenever problems arise.

Prof. Enoch Uche, Commissioner for Health, Abia State.

He said government could provide modern buildings and equipment, but the investments would not achieve their purpose if communities failed to use, protect and maintain the facilities.

“We want you to take ownership of the facility. Make sure that the people who are posted there to work come to work.

“If you see something not going on right, report it.

“We want to be able to monitor what is going on,” Uche said.

He noted that the initiative was part of the administration’s wider healthcare reforms, including the renovation, re-equipping and staffing of 200 primary healthcare centres across Abia’s 184 wards.

According to him, the government is deliberately strengthening primary healthcare so residents can access quality medical services closer to their homes instead of travelling to major hospitals for issues that can be handled at the primary level.

Uche also called on communities to revive the spirit of collective responsibility towards healthcare facilities, recalling a community where residents took responsibility for protecting a government-built health centre.

He urged residents of Isuikwuato to adopt the same attitude and treat healthcare facilities as community assets.

The Commissioner also highlighted other initiatives under the government’s Roadmap to Health Equity, including the state health insurance scheme, free medical outreaches, collaboration with international health organisations and the digital health programme.

He explained that the health insurance scheme was designed to make healthcare more affordable for residents and encourage people to seek treatment in recognised health facilities rather than relying on unregulated alternatives.

Uche said the government was also exploring digital healthcare to connect residents in rural communities with Abia medical professionals living in countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

He said the reforms were beginning to attract positive recognition, citing a recent Phillips Consulting assessment which, according to him, placed Abia among the country’s leading states in several areas of governance, including healthcare affordability and quality.

The Commissioner described the SCHOT initiative as a deliberate effort to place residents at the centre of healthcare governance.

“Our people will no longer be like customers. We are now putting them at the centre of governance of healthcare,” he said.

Uche urged members of the newly inaugurated team to see their responsibility as a call to serve their communities and contribute to building a healthier Abia.

“We are in a new Abia. This is the new Abia where participatory leadership is what we are looking for.

“Everyone of us is part of the leadership,” he said.

He urged the team to work together, provide useful ideas and promptly report challenges affecting healthcare delivery in their communities.

“We are as strong as our weakest link. So please don’t be the weak link.

“Provide strength, courage, innovation and ideas that will help us to make this a success,” Uche concluded.

Earlier, Abia State Consultant on Strategic Community Health Oversight, Prof. Kanu Nkanginieme said the team was important to ensure that the reforms in the healthcare are preserved, emphasising that without oversight, government projects in communities would be wasted.

Prof. Kanu Nkanginieme, Consultant.

According to him, the team became necessary because of the need for community ownership of projects, adding that they are to ensure that the healthcare facilities in their localities are not only protected but also kept in good condition..

Prof. Nkanginieme stressed that it is the role of the Presidents General to provide updates on the conditions of primary healthcare centres in their areas as well as report progress of work for ongoing ones.

In a welcome address, the Mayor of Isuikwuato LGA, Chinedu Ekeke commended Governor Alex Otti for the initiative and urged members of the team to support government efforts by ensuring that facilitates and protected.

In a vote of thanks, Health Authority Secretary (HAS) Isuikwuato, Mrs Patricia Nwogu thanked Governor Alex Otti for the reforms in the healthcare sector and expressed the hope that with the team in place, the primary healthcare centres and other government projects in the local government areas would be well catered for.