— State ranks first in healthcare affordability, says government

By Steve Oko

UMUAHIA — The Abia State Government has deployed a locally developed digital application, CyTracker, to identify and monitor high-risk pregnancies as part of efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality in the state.

The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Umuahia on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

Kanu said CyTracker, developed by the state Ministry of Health, had been deployed to monitor teenage pregnancies from antenatal care through delivery.

He described the initiative as part of the administration’s increasing use of technology to improve healthcare delivery across the state.

The commissioner also said Abia had emerged first in healthcare affordability and among the top three states in healthcare quality in Nigeria, according to a recent assessment by Philips Consulting SPI.

Kanu described the ranking as an independent validation of the reforms being implemented by the Otti administration to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

“His Excellency, Dr Alex Otti’s transformation agenda, particularly in the health sector, continues to receive rave reviews across the country and beyond,” he said.

He added that Abia ranked among the top three states in 13 of 16 good-governance indicators based on citizens’ perception.

On primary healthcare, Kanu said three additional Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) had been functionalised between July 27 and August 10, bringing the total number of functionalised PHCs in the state to 151.

He said the first 50 functionalised centres accounted for more than 20 per cent of the over 1.067 million outpatient visits recorded across the state between July 2025 and June 2026.

Kanu further disclosed that enrolment in the Abia State Health Insurance Scheme increased from 233,000 to 237,000 between July 27 and August 7.

He said the state also recorded no disease of public health importance during the period, including Ebola, Lassa fever, COVID-19, diphtheria, cholera, mpox and yellow fever.

The commissioner also announced that the Abiriba Community Improvement Union, North America Chapter, had committed to sponsoring 1,000 indigent residents under the state health insurance scheme.

He urged other communities, organisations and individuals to emulate the initiative.

On manpower, Kanu said the State Civil Service Commission would commence another recruitment exercise for healthcare professionals following the employment of 742 medical personnel by the administration.

He said the fresh recruitment would target medical officers, dental officers and consultants, including full-time and part-time consultants.

How CyTracker works

Explaining the initiative, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, said CyTracker was designed to ensure that women at greater risk of pregnancy complications were identified early and monitored until delivery.

He listed teenage mothers, women without supervised antenatal care and expectant mothers likely to deliver without skilled birth attendants among those targeted by the system.

According to him, the application captures critical information, including the woman’s age and last menstrual period, enabling health workers to determine expected delivery dates, monitor antenatal appointments and send reminders.

He said responsible adults in communities could also assist in ensuring that high-risk pregnant women did not miss scheduled appointments.

Uche disclosed that the system had already helped health workers monitor and facilitate the safe delivery of several teenage mothers at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia.

He said the technology also enabled health workers to respond more quickly when complications were detected.

The commissioner urged pregnant women to enrol in the state health insurance scheme, stressing that registered pregnant women were entitled to free maternal healthcare and delivery services, including Caesarean sections, under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.

“No pregnant woman should stay away from registering for health insurance. Once you do that, it makes life easy for everyone,” he said.

Uche described CyTracker as an “Abia-born” innovation developed locally to address healthcare challenges in the state.

He said the technology complemented the government’s investments in health infrastructure, manpower and health insurance by ensuring that high-risk pregnancies were detected early and monitored before complications became life-threatening.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, and the State Director of Information, Lady Chika Orji-Nwoke, attended the briefing.