Abia State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, on Saturday said the present administration in the state would not play politics with health workers welfare.
Okoronkwo said this at Aba General Hospital at the commencement of Month-long free medical services organised by the state ministry of health
She also said the administration would prioritise the health of every Abia citizen and promised that the government would not owe salaries of its health workers.
“I promise you that your payment will come every month; don’t ever go to bed thinking you will not be paid; that’s not possible as far as this government is concerned.
“We will not only pay salaries, but also supply you with all you need to do your work perfectly.
“We thank you for staying back even when you were not being paid and we also thank you for showing up now,” she said.
Okoronkwo urged Abia health workers to rededicate themselves to their jobs to make Abia citizens know that the state-owned hospitals had become functional once again.
“This is not us playing politics, this is us trying to save lives. Hospitals in Abia have been shut down for a long time and most of our people cannot pay for what the private hospitals demand.
"Where have our people been going to? It has kept me awake all night; we are trying to restructure the system and the governor has declared a state of emergency in the health sector.
“We didn’t meet any free medical service on ground to work with so we are laying a foundation, but we can’t ask people’s health conditions to wait because we are laying a foundation.
“Therefore we are using this medium to reach out to our people who are in dire need of medical attention,” she said.
She promised that Aba General Hospital will be open all days of the month, to ensure that the free medical services achieved its purpose.
“We’ve seen people we had to refer to our Teaching Hospital for proper treatment, so if you have to do a follow-up, come back here and they will attend to you for free.
“The doctors are here, the nurses are here, but the patients are not here because they have lost confidence in the system but his is our attempt at helping to restore that confidence,” she said.
A beneficiary, Comfort Ananaba, expressed joy that she was attended to by the doctors and nurses whom she said were diligent and dedicated to their duties.
“I was told that there will be a free medical treatment today because I recently had a
“I heard about the free medical services today and I came out not even to participate but to confirm my doubt about government’s promises.
“However, when I got here, the nurses and doctors attended to me respectfully, examined me and gave me drugs to go with,” another beneficiary, Nnamdi Onwuka, said.
.He said he would still retain his doubts about the seriousness of the government to revitalise the health sector up until it had taken takes care of his ailment.