Abia records major milestone in healthcare delivery.

The State Government has recorded a major milestone in healthcare delivery with the successful performance of emergency brain surgery on a 19-year-old accident victim at the Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia.

Briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s executive council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti,The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu,said the surgery, which took place last Sunday, after a road accident involving a tricycle and a vehicle, which the victim was rushed to the specialist hospital.

According to the commissioner, the four-hour emergency procedure involved opening the patient’s skull and evacuating blood within the skull to control further bleeding, adding that the patient was afterwards transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he is making satisfactory post-operative recovery.

Prince Kanu also disclosed that Abia recently “witnessed a harvest of regulatory accreditations in the health sector including the Nigerian Board for Technical Education for two campuses of Abia State College of Nursing Sciences (ASCON), completing the accreditation of all four campuses”.

The Commissioner said the regulatory body for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria, has also accredited three hospitals in the state for training which include Aba General Hospital, Arochukwu General Hospital and Abia Specialist Hospital, Umuahia, thereby covering the three senatorial zones of the state.

The Information Commissioner also disclosed that the state government has paid five hundred and two point one million naira as counterpart funding for the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, which would enable vulnerable residents to continue benefiting from the health insurance scheme.

Prince Kanu also announced that a Swedish organisation has donated surgical equipment worth about N1 billion to the state, including modern equipment for stroke, brain and spine surgeries and other complicated procedures.

The commissioner said Stanbic IBTC was also collaborating with the State Health Management Board and the Ministry of Health to provide hybrid solar systems for the emergency unit of Aba General Hospital.

He said activities marking the 2026 World Sight Day which commenced in the state on Monday with free eye screening for commercial drivers and other residents would run until the 15th of this month.

Contributing, the Commissioner for Health, Professor Ogbonnaya Uche, said the successful brain surgery performed on a 19-year-old accident victim who arrived at the Abia Specialist Hospital in deep coma with a Glasgow Coma Scale of 6, demonstrated the growing capacity of the state’s healthcare system.

Prof Uche disclosed that more than 100 millilitres of blood clots were evacuated from the patient’s brain, after which the patient began showing signs of improvement, including movement of his limbs,

noting that the state now has facilities and brain surgeons capable of handling complex neurosurgical cases that might previously have required referral.