By Ogar Monday
The Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong has stated that in addition to the establishment of one health center in each political ward, there are also plans by the state government to establish one specialist hospital in each senatorial district to tackle specialized and major health problems.
The Commissioner who spoke to CrossRiverWatch in her office didn’t say if the intended Specialist hospitals will be on Public Private Partnership (PPP) or wholly government owned.
Her words “we are trying to have one specialist hospital in every senatorial district. We are going to have the eye specialist hospital in the Southern Senatorial District, we are going to have the diabetic and hypertensive specialist hospital and screening center in the Central Senatorial District and of course in the Northern Senatorial District we are going to have the Cancer Screening Center, this all is apart from the Calabar Specialist Hospital”.
The Commissioner added that she has her mind set on the transformation of the health sector in the state as she upon resuming office embarked on facility tour of all secondary heath care facilities across the state on needs assessment of the personnel, state of the hospitals, and equipment among others.
Going further, she said “this dispensation has witnessed visitations of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria to the State. The team inspected the School of Nursing, Calabar and School of Nursing, Itigidi.
At the end of their inspections there are strong positive signals in addition to government unequalled commitment to admit students and commence academic activities full blast.
On solving drugs distribution problems, she said “the 2016 budget has provision for state Drugs Distribution Center with the state having an effective central revolving fund scheme maintained by the Essential Drugs Program (EDP) where drugs are centrally procured for all public health facilities in the state.
“A major plus for the State’s Drugs Warehouse is that it is designated to serve as a hub for the distribution of drugs for diseases in the South-South Geopolitical Zone”.