Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has reaffirmed his determination to transform the health sector and transform the state into a choice destination for medical tourism in the country.
The governor, represented by his deputy Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, made the comment when the renovated and re-equipped isolation ward at the Colliery Hospital, Enugu, was commissioned recently, noting that his government will continue to make efforts to upgrade and equip existing health facilities and institutions.
“There is no doubt that the renovation and equipping of this ward would help in no small measure to enhance efficiency in our response to medical emergencies arising from cases or outbreaks of contagious and sometimes deadly diseases,” the governor said, adding that the Centre would also prove vital in the training of medical students and other medical professionals towards the effective containment of such cases.
Governor Ugwuanyi therefore used the occasion to commend the state ministry of health for the commitment it had shown in the speedy completion of the project and equally thanked the WHO, UNICEF and the Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, for their support.
The state’s commissioner for health, Dr. Fintan Ekochin, had earlier commended Governor Ugwuanyi for his administration’s commitment to improve health care delivery in the face of dwindling resources. He explained that the Isolation ward was renovated and equipped to world standard to serve different hospitals in the state, and also to offer care to persons with infectious diseases like tuberculosis, ebola, monkey pox, lassa fever, among others.
In their separate remarks, Dr. Onyinye Emefiele, representative of World Health Organisation and Dr. Ify Anyanyo, who represented the United Nations Children Fund thanked the governor for his government’s immense contribution towards the actualization of equitable health care delivery service in the state, adding that organisations would not relent in contributing to the growth of the health sector in Enugu State.
