By yinka ajayi

It is no secret that the bane of our rural healthcare delivery is the lack of basic medical infrastructure and equipment. Thus, the intervention of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in this regard is like rubbing the much-needed soothing balm on our ailing healthcare delivery system. The commission has stepped up efforts to assist state governments in the Niger Delta in the provision of necessary equipment and essential drugs.

Apart from equipment and drugs, the commission is also rehabilitating hospitals and health centres as well as building new ones, including two specialist hospitals in Rivers and Cross River states in partnership with private sector service providers. In addition to building health centres, hospitals and residential quarters for medical personnel, the commission is also equipping these medical facilities. According to Dr. George Uzonwanne, the commission’s medical unit head, medical equipment were supplied recently to the Teaching hospitals in Uyo and Calabar, as well as the Cottage Hospital in Ugborodo, Delta State.

On Tuesday, August 4, 2015, the commission donated drugs and medical supplies to hospitals in Bayelsa State as part of its contributions to the provision of quality health care in the 9 states covered by the commission. Officials of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Health received the essential medicines and medical items at a brief ceremony  on Tuesday  at the Diete-Koki Memorial Hospital, Opolo in Yenagoa. A similar donation was made at the Alaere Alaibe Memorial health center, Opokuma last week.

The NDDC Director of Education, Health and Social Services, Dr Solomon Ita, who handed over the medical supplies on behalf of the NDDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sir (Barr.) Bassey Dan-Abia, said that 6 mobile vaccine cold chains and one fixed walk-in vaccine cold chain would also be delivered to the state ministry of health for vaccine storage.

He explained that it was part of the efforts of the NDDC to improve health services in the Niger Delta, adding that the commission had also donated hospital equipment to teaching hospitals in Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Delta states.

He commended the Bayelsa State government for its prompt response earlier in the year when it had to contend with cholera outbreak. He recalled that the NDDC did not hesitate to come to the assistance of the government in combating the health challenge. According to him, that intervention helped to save lives in the affected communities. He said that the current batch of drugs was being handed over to complement similar donations in the past.

Receiving the drugs on behalf of the state commissioner for health, Dr Ayibatonye Owei, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Brinena Samayin, expressed appreciation to the NDDC for always coming to the assistance of the state in addressing its health challenges. He recalled the prompt response of the commission when the state was hit by cholera outbreak. He noted that the commission not only donated drugs, it also provided potable water facilities to strike at the root of the disease.

The Medical Director of Diete-Koki Memorial Hospital, Dr. Emmanuel Ferepigi, thanked the NDDC for assisting the state government to provide quality healthcare for the people. He gave kudos to the commission for its activities in the Niger-Delta, especially in Bayelsa, noting that its interventions were usually timely.   He gave assurances that the drugs would be appropriately utilized.

Speaking on the donated items, the Head of NDDC Health Unit, Dr. George Uzonwanne, listed 17 different medicines, worth several millions of naira, as part of the package. The items, he said, included several cartons of de-worming tablets, anti-biotic capsules, paediatric medicines, insecticide-treated nets, malaria drugs, among others. According to him, 4 states in the region had so far benefitted from medical support programme.