The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated medical equipment worth over N47 million to Ebonyi state government towards the prevention of diseases and avoidable deaths of women and children.
Handing over the equipment to Governor David Umahi at the Government House in Abakaliki, the Deputy Director of USAID Mission in Nigeria, Aler Grubbs, said the equipment were for the National Fistula Centre, Abakaliki and 70 Primary Health Care centres in the state.
Grubbs said that USAID had trained 450 directors and nurses from Ebonyi State to provide maternal and ante-natal healthcare to women and children, adding that the state is among the 11 which the agency is partnering in Nigeria for the treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of Vasico Vagina Fistula (VVF).
Umahi, represented by his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, commended USAID for its committed partnership with the state government in the development of the state, especially in the education and health sectors.
He expressed his confidence that with the donation, medical tourism from the state would reduce, stressing that the country had qualified medical personnel who rank among the best in the world.
He assured the agency that the government would ensure that the equipment were judiciously used.
In his remark, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike, said that the donation would be a boost to the government’s effort to reposition the primary health care centres for quality health care delivery. [myad]
