ENUGU – The Enugu State Government on Friday donated 13 vehicles to all its district hospitals to enhance efficient and effective healthcare service delivery.
The vehicles comprised 11 Toyota Hilux and two buses.
Inaugurating the vehicles in Enugu, Mrs Ifeoma Nwobodo, the Chief of Staff to Gov. Sullivan Chime, advised that the vehicles be properly used for the purposes they were intended.
She commended the state Commissioner for Health, Dr George Eze, for his honesty and hard work in the ministry.
Nwobodo said that Chime’s administration had always given priority to the health sector, adding that the free maternal child care programme was still on and would be sustained.
She enjoined the health managers to ensure that free maternal and child care health services got to every part of the state.
“I am glad that the free maternal and child programme has not died, this programme has been sustained and it will keep getting better, with the kind of people in the health sector the programme will get to every village,” Nwobodo said.
The commissioner had earlier said that the vehicles were donated to improve healthcare service delivery across the state.
“Indeed it is a thing which all women and unborn children in the state would celebrate because maternal and child fatality rate will be reduced,’’ he said.
According to him, because of the seriousness of the government in the health sector, Enugu was the first state to embrace and actualise free maternal and child care programme in the country. He said the vehicles would be sued for supervision, education, sensitisation, monitoring and reporting for effective services in all the district hospitals.
The commissioner said that the vehicles would also strengthen the maternal and child care programme as well as motivate health workers.
He advised the chief medical officers in the health facilities against abusing or misusing the vehicles, but use them efficiently for official purposes in the health facilities.
In his goodwill message, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Moses Otiji, thanked the state government for investing more in and sustaining the programme. (NAN)
