Abia plans medical village to curb medical tourism abroad, as ABSUTH regains accreditation

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

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Deputy Registrar, Dr Nnaemeka Nwakanma, representing the Registrar Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr Tajudeen Adisa Sanusi, speaking during the visit, while Gov Otti and the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, listen.

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has revealed plans by his administration to build a medical village to curb foreign medical tourism by Nigerians.

Governor Otti’s revelation came shortly before the highest institution in the state which trains students to become qualified medical personnel regained it’s lost accreditation.

Otti who spoke when he received the Accreditation team of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) which visited him in his Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South country home last Thursday, explained that the vision behind his administration’s planned establishment of a Medical Village in the state was to reverse medical tourism, regretting that 1.6 billion Dollars was spent by Nigerians on medical tourism abroad, annually.

“Our vision is that we need to reverse medical tourism, not just in Abia but in Nigeria. If the numbers by the past administration (Federal) are anything to go, the country spends not less than 1.6 billion Dollars on medical tourism and no less than 50 to 60 percent of that money is spent in India. 

“By the time we are done with our medical village, we are targeting 10 percent of 1.6 billion Dollars,” he said.

Speaking further on some of his pland for the health sector, Governor Otti swore that under his watch, the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) would not lose its accreditation to train medical personnel.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) which, about three years ago, had withdrawn ABSUTH’s accreditation, however, restored it last Thursday. 

The good news was communicated to the Governor by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, late Thursday night, after the MDCN Accreditation Team which has been in Abia to inspect the state of facilities and other prerequisites  in ABSUTH had concluded its visit and reached a verdict. 

“We just concluded our meeting with the team. To the glory of God, we have full accreditation to graduate medical students for the next five years; increase in our admission quota from 120 to 150 per session; renewed accreditation to train 60 house officers per annum for the next four years. The number can be increased if we employ more full time consultants in the department of paediatrics.

“Thanks immensely. We are most grateful to the Executive Governor and to you. Remain blessed,” read a message sent to Dr Okoronkwo by a member of the Abia State University Accreditation Committee, led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Maxwell Ogbulu. 

“Never again should it happen that we will lose accreditation, it’s a big shame. I was not in government when it happened, but I saw it coming, and I wrote; I wrote to the former Governor,” Otti told his guests.

“Before the accreditation was withdrawn, I saw everything; lecturers were on strike, the whole place dilapidated, I actually lost a friend there. So, we can’t continue like that. As if I was being clairvoyant, it didn’t take long before the accreditation was withdrawn. 

“I was very deliberate in ensuring that the accreditation was restored,” Governor Otti added, while recalling the enormous work done by his administration to rehabilitate ABSUTH’s facility and bring it up to standard. 

The Governor assured that his government would look into all shortcomings identified  by the accreditation team with a view to attending to them timeously. He said his administration would do it’s best to remedy the lapses, adding that the restoration of accreditation to ABSUTH was a major priority of his administration.

Governor Otti remarked that the essence of governance is for the promotion of welfare and security of the people, hence the resolve of his administration to dedicate 20% and 15% of the state’s 2024 annual budget to education and health, respectively.

“That we’re able to deliver service to our people, for me, that is what is most critical. We have done a few things that some people ordinarily would not want to do, but if at the back of your mind you know that the essence of government is welfare and security of the people, that’s what government is all about 

“So, if we dedicate 15% of our annual budget to healthcare, it’s not a favour, we’re just doing what we’re supposed to do. If we dedicate 20% to education, it’s also not a favour. It’s a responsibility,” he said. 

The Governor also assured that his administration was committed to the proper staffing of all healthcare institutions in the state even as he stated that his focus was to ensure that Abians and residents have unhindered access to quality healthcare.

Speaking earlier, the Registrar of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr Tajudeen Adisa Sanusi, represented by the Deputy Registrar, Dr Nnaemeka Nwakanma, thanked Governor Otti for the infrastructural uplift being witnessed in Abia State, but particularly in ABSUTH and other health institutions in the state.

He said that the Council was impressed with the achievements recorded so far under Governor Otti, within a short period of assumption of office, adding that the Governor represents a ray of hope for Nigeria.

Dr Sanusi, who also commended Governor Otti for dedicating 20% and 15% of the 2024 annual budget to education and health, respectively, described it as the highest ever in the history of budgeting in Nigeria. 

He said that Abia of today boasts of three accredited medical schools and made a case for mass recruitment of medical academic staff and provision of technology-driven equipment, among other requirements, for ABSUTH.

Earlier, while introducing the team to the Governor, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, noted that the present administration met on ground a virtually-moribund health institutions across the state, and thanked the Governor for his keen interest in revamping and overhauling the health sector of the state.

A Statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Kazie Uko, disclosed that the Vice Chancellor, Abia State University (ABSU), Professor Maxwell Ogbulu; the pioneer Provost, ABSUTH, Professor Akpuaka; the Acting Provost, ABSUTH, Associate Professor John Chikezie; and other management staff of the institution were present during the visit by the MDCN accreditation team.