By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu
World Health Organisation (WHO), Enugu State Commissioner for Health Professor George Ugwu, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and community leaders have commended the Governor Peter Mbah administration for its huge investment in building and equipping 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) and commitment to rural healthcare in the South-East state.
The huge investment has recorded an increase in visits to the state’s PHC facilities from 800,000 to 1.4 million, representing an 80 per cent rise, as well as a jerk-up in Penta-3 immunisation coverage from 78.5 per cent to 88.9 per cent, surpassing the national target of 85 per cent.
They made the commendations at the combined 2026 Biannual Meeting and Supportive Supervisory Visit by Gov. Mbah to Type 2 PHC Centre, Ihe Ward, Nsukka Local Government Area (LGA)of the state on Tuesday, 30 June.
Speaking during the event, South-East Zonal Coordinator of WHO Nigeria, Dr. Chukwumuanya Igbonekwu, described the governor’s continued supervisory visits to the state’s PHC facilities as a powerful catalyst for accountability, motivation, assessment of challenges and progress, and continuous improvement in service delivery.
“Therefore, WHO highly commends the Government of Enugu State for prioritising health sector investments and fostering an enabling environment for implementing key public health programmes,” he said.
The Zonal Coordinator pledged WHO’s continued support to the administration’s efforts to build resilient health systems capable of addressing current and emerging health challenges.
On his part, the Chief of UNICEF Field Office in Enugu, Juliet Chiluwe, represented by the Health Logistics Consultant, Dr Charles Abel, commended the governor for a “steadfast commitment to optimising primary healthcare service delivery across the state.”
“Routine field oversight of this nature is clear evidence of a leadership that prioritises the health, survival, and well-being of its citizens, particularly vulnerable women and children,” she said, while reaffirming UNICEF’s commitment to supporting the government.
Also speaking, Prof. Ugwu extolled Mbah’s personal commitment to uplift the health and well-being of all residents and investing in all tiers of healthcare.
According to the Commissioner, “we all in the health sector are proud of your sterling and impactful achievements.”
He noted that the state government had supported building of new health facilities across board, provision of state-of-the-art health equipment and upscaling of employment within all four tiers of the state’s health system.
Meanwhile, Gov. Mbah, who had held separate interactive meetings with traditional rulers and women leaders, said his administration intentionally invested heavily in building the 260 PHCs across the 260 wards of the state to ensure that nobody was left behind.
He expressed satisfaction that the investments in the PHCs had paid off by helping to drastically cut down maternal mortality, insisting that the state targets zero maternal mortality as “no woman should die giving birth in any part of Enugu State.”
The governor charged traditional rulers, women leaders, and other grassroots leaders to use their influence to create awareness, champion immunisation, antenatal and postnatal care, encourage subscription to universal healthcare coverage, and monitor service delivery at their PHCs, escalating observed gaps to the authorities.
“I have also listened to our elders. We are going to have the MRI, the CT Scan, and all the radiological services at the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS) Teaching Hospital so that you do not have to travel to Enugu to get full healthcare services. This, I guarantee you,” he assured.
Corroborating, the Enugu State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ENSPHDA) boss, Dr. Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, noted that PHCs had experienced an uncommon leap under the Mbah administration, adding: “We added 3,380 hospital beds and 520 baby cots at the ward level, capacity this state had never seen in its primary health system.”
Dr. Ani-Osheku added: “We recruited 2,250 health workers and placed doctors at the helm so that competence is no longer the privilege of the city alone.
“The share of our mothers delivering safely, in trained hands, leapt from 40.9 per cent to 59.3 per cent in just six months. When we came in, our people made 800,000 visits to our health centres in a year. Today they make over 1.4 million (80% increase) because we made the clinics worth walking into.
“We nearly tripled the malaria treatment reaching our people. We put our clinics on computers, cut the time our people wait for care by nearly 70 per cent, tripled the medicines on the shelves, and brought ultrasound scans to the wards.”
In his remark, Chairman of Nsukka LGA, Engr. Jude Asogwa, hailed Gov. Mbah’s commitment to the health sector, adding: “So, as you are going back to Enugu, just have it at the back of your mind that you, our President Bola Tinubu, and all your line-up will be given 100 per cent vote come 2027 General Elections.”
*PHOTO CAPTION: Inside one of the PHCs.
