Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Ben Obidike says his ministry is seeking exploring gainful collaboration with the Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Health.
The Commissioner said this on Tuesday, when the State House of Assembly Committee members on Health paid a familiarization visit in his office at Jerome Udorji, Secretariat, Awka.
Dr. Obidike assured that the collaboration would benefit the public as far as healthcare service delivery is concerned in the state, commending the committee for having the interest of their constituents in heart.
He informed them that the state will soon establish a Health Facility Monitoring, Accreditation Agency to eliminate quackery in the state.
“By God’s grace, the agency will be established before December this year and it will clamp down on illegal hospital found operating in the state,” he said.
According to him, the Agency when established will amongst others; set the required standards for the operations of public and private health facilities.
He said; “The establishment of the agency will enable the public to know well registered hospitals and desist from patronising quacks.
“We are appealing to the Anambra State House of Assembly to assist the Ministry to achieve it by giving it a legal backing.
“We are also making efforts to have a Quality Laboratory Assurance Unit with the aim of ensuring that drugs being supplied to the state are of good quality and healthy for consumption.
“I must commend the House for the role they played during recruitment of no fewer than three hundred health workers into public hospitals across the state.”
Dr. Obidike stressed the need for the House Committee on Health to push for the enactment of the Health Insurance Law that will give retirees access to quality healthcare whenever the need arises .
The Chairman House Committee on Health, Hon. Tony Muobuike, commended the health reforms programme of Gov. Soludo while expressing the commitment of the committee to partner the Ministry in actualizing its development goals for the benefit of Ndi Anambra.
Hon Muobuike said that the essence of their visit to the Ministry is also to ascertain their challenges and offer solutions to them saying that their visit is not witch-hunting but rather to discuss a way forward with sole intention of improving healthcare delivery across the state.
