Delta Spends Over ₦100B Yearly On Medical Export, Says Health Commissioner, Onojaeme
*As Delta State government renovated 200 healthcare centres, approved establishment of Public Health Facility
•••Says Delta Psychiatric Hospital, Public Health Lab, IVF and Oncology centre will commence operations March 2027
By Matthias Ogbagah & Ozioma Eze
ASABA — The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Onojaeme, has disclosed that the Delta State government spent over N100 billion yearly travelling to other Nigerian states or overseas to get advanced medical care, diagnoses, and treatments.
Dr Onojaeme disclosed in his office in Asaba, the Delta State capital, while hosting the members of Delta State Community Newspapers, led by the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on community newspapers, Prince Joseph Orhomurho, on a courtesy visit to him at his office.
According to him, Delta State government spend over ₦100 billion every year travelling to other Nigerian states or overseas to get advanced medical care, diagnoses, and treatments.
Commending the state governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori’s quick intervention in the state health sector, he said, the state government has expanded healthcare services across the state with the renovation of 200 primary health centres and the introduction of new diagnostic and specialist facilities in less than three years in office.
Speaking on the progress recorded in the health sector, the state government said the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility at Asaba Specialist Hospital had commenced operations.
Onojaeme noted that Delta residents who previously had to travel to Lagos or Benin for MRI scans could now access the service in Asaba.
According to him, the MRI machine is a helium-free 1.5 Tesla system with reduced noise during scans and improved comfort for patients.
He disclosed further that the MRI facilities in Warri and Oghara were also being prepared for use, with training of personnel expected to begin soon.
“You don’t need to go as far as Lagos, Benin, with the bad roads and all the stress and all. So, you can do it behind you.
“The one in Warri will start training by Wednesday next week. And the one at Oghara, same thing. So in the next three weeks, all these facilities, all this high-end medical equipment that His Excellency, in his good wisdom, has procured for the state, will start working”.
He said the three facilities would further increase access to advanced diagnostic services in the state.
“There has also been an increase in the number of health facilities benefiting from the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund; the number rose from 245 facilities in May 2023 to 40”.
“The CT scan in Warri and the one at Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, have started working, and a lot of Deltans have been benefiting from it”.
Onojaeme stated that Delta State’s own Psychiatric Hospital, Public Health Lab, IVF, and Oncology centres will commence operations in March 2027.
“We have no neuropsychiatric facility. A lot of our patients were referred to Uselu Psychiatric and other facilities outside the state. That facility should be ready by March next year. And most of our mental health patients, we’ll no longer refer them.
“You know, quite alright, in recent history, 2020, during COVID, a lot of our patients’ samples were sent to Irrua and in Edo State, Lagos, Abuja for PCR test analysis. As of 2023, we don’t have any public health lab in the state. Because His Excellency approved the establishment of a public health facility in the state that will be doing all those public health investigations that we usually send outside the state. We collect samples, and we send them outside the state. Sometimes you wait one week, two weeks before these samples are reported, and they will be sent back to the state. But with the establishment of a brand new public health facility, that will be a thing of the past as of March next year. He noted.
“With the establishment of an In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centre. We now have that in the state. That will start in March, same with the oncology centre for cancer patients, a standard cancer facility that we’re establishing in the state.
“I know that by the time that kicks off, we are not just Deltans will not only benefit from these facilities, they’ll also benefit from the low pricing compared to what they pay in LUTH, but that’s Lagos University Teaching Hospital and other facilities outside the state. With this cancer centre, you’ll find that the cost of transportation to get to this facility will be a thing of the past”.
