The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reaffirmed its commitment to partnering with the Anambra State Government to strengthen primary healthcare delivery, improve immunisation coverage and expand access to quality healthcare services across the state.
The commitment was reiterated during an advocacy visit by the WHO South-East Zonal Coordinator, Dr Chukwumuanya Igboekwu, and his team to the Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ASPHCDA) in Awka.
Speaking during the visit, Igboekwu said the engagement was aimed at strengthening the existing partnership between WHO and the state’s health sector, particularly through the revitalisation of the State Primary Healthcare Task Force on Primary Healthcare and Immunisation.
He described the task force as a vital platform for advocacy, strategic oversight and coordination of primary healthcare and immunisation activities, stressing the need for its regular inauguration and reactivation to ensure continuity and accommodate changes in membership.
The WHO zonal coordinator commended the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo for its investments in healthcare infrastructure and ongoing reforms, noting that the state’s progress had been reflected in its achievements at the Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge Awards in 2024 and 2025.
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He, however, urged the government to sustain and expand its investments, particularly in rural and underserved communities, where access to quality healthcare services remains essential.
Igboekwu also emphasised the need to strengthen the health workforce through the recruitment, equitable deployment and retention of qualified personnel, warning that inadequate staffing could undermine service delivery and limit the effective use of existing healthcare infrastructure.
In his remarks, the WHO Anambra State Coordinator, Dr Bonos Mohammed, identified polio eradication, routine immunisation, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation and control, emergency preparedness, and the promotion of public health as key areas of the organisation’s intervention in the state.
Mohammed reaffirmed WHO’s readiness to continue supporting the state government in strengthening its health system, while emphasising the importance of effective oversight, accountability and regular supportive supervision in immunisation programmes.
He noted that sustained commitment from ASPHCDA would be critical to improving programme performance and achieving better health outcomes.
Responding, the Executive Secretary of ASPHCDA, Dr Chizoba Prisca Ezeasor, expressed appreciation to WHO for its continued partnership, technical support and contributions to improving healthcare delivery in the state.
Ezeasor reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to working with WHO and other development partners to ensure that primary healthcare centres across Anambra are accessible, functional, responsive to community needs and adequately equipped to provide essential health services.
“Primary healthcare is the foundation of an effective health system. Improved service delivery at that level would reduce avoidable pressure on secondary and tertiary hospitals while enabling more residents to receive timely and appropriate care within their communities.
“There is therefore the need for sustained collaboration among government institutions, development partners, healthcare workers and communities to address existing gaps and consolidate the gains recorded in the state’s health sector,” Ezeasor noted.
The Southeast WHO Coordinator, Dr Igboekwu (left on blue), ANSPHCDA boss, Ezeasor (middle) and Dr Mohammed (right).
