The Abia State Government has called on communities across the state to take ownership of renovated and functionalised Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), urging residents and community leaders to protect the facilities from vandalism, neglect and other forms of abuse.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, made the appeal on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, during the inauguration of the Strategic Community Health Oversight Team (SCHOT) for Umuahia North Local Government Area.
Prof. Uche said the administration of Governor Alex Otti had continued to prioritise healthcare development through the construction, renovation, equipping and functionalisation of health facilities across Abia.
He, however, emphasised that government investment in healthcare infrastructure could only achieve its full impact when communities actively participated in protecting and sustaining the facilities.
According to the commissioner, healthcare development goes beyond putting up buildings, as health centres must be properly equipped, powered and staffed to provide effective services to residents within their catchment areas.
He disclosed that Abia currently has 277 Primary Healthcare Centres spread across 184 wards. Of the total, 200 facilities are being addressed under Project Ekweme, while 77 have been renovated through the World Bank Impact Project.
Prof. Uche said 151 of the facilities had already been functionalised, while about 70 others were ready for equipment installation or full functionalisation.
The commissioner also highlighted a sharp increase in the number of residents using government-owned healthcare facilities. According to him, utilisation rose from approximately 219,000 people in 2023 to 467,000 in 2024 and about 1.06 million in 2025.
He attributed the growth to improvements in the availability and quality of healthcare services, noting that residents were increasingly patronising government facilities as more PHCs became operational.
Prof. Uche charged members of the newly inaugurated SCHOT teams to regularly monitor healthcare facilities within their communities, ensure health workers are available, protect medical equipment and promptly report challenges to the appropriate authorities.
He stressed that government would not want residents to visit health centres only to discover that healthcare workers were unavailable or that essential equipment had been damaged or stolen.
The commissioner cited the Amuzuoro Primary Healthcare Centre as an example of successful government-community collaboration. He explained that the community contributed part of an existing hall, which was subsequently converted into a healthcare facility.
Beyond protecting infrastructure, Prof. Uche urged community leaders to educate residents about government healthcare financing initiatives, including the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund. The programme provides free healthcare services for registered pregnant and nursing mothers, children below five years and persons aged 70 and above.
He also drew attention to Abia’s formal-sector health insurance scheme, which offers highly subsidised healthcare services to civil servants and their immediate families.
The commissioner further disclosed that Abians in the United States had established the Abia Healthcare Endowment Fund to support health insurance coverage for vulnerable residents across the state.
Speaking at the event, the Abia State Consultant on Strategic Community Health Oversight, Prof. Kanu Enyinnaya Nkanginieme, said the SCHOT initiative was designed to tackle poor absorptive capacity and inadequate utilisation of resources that had previously affected development efforts in the state.
Prof. Nkanginieme explained that community leaders were selected because, as representatives of their people, they have a responsibility to ensure that resources provided for their communities are properly utilised for their intended purposes.
He said the oversight teams would collaborate with community health and education committees, women and youth leaders, local government authorities and the Ministry of Health to identify local needs, monitor healthcare facilities and encourage sustainable development planning.
The consultant also encouraged community leaders to promote enrolment in health insurance schemes and strengthen school health programmes by establishing stronger links between primary schools and nearby PHCs.
He described the initiative as an effort to create “emotional ownership” of government projects while establishing a stronger and more structured partnership between communities and the state government.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiary communities, the President-General of Ameke Afaranta Ibeku, Chief Onwuasoanya Shedrack, and his counterpart from Isingwu, Mr. Okechukwu Nkemka, expressed appreciation to the Commissioner for Health and his team for the sensitisation.
They pledged to take the message to their respective communities and assured the state government of their cooperation in protecting healthcare facilities and supporting the administration’s healthcare transformation agenda.
The event culminated in the formal inauguration of President-Generals from communities across Umuahia North LGA as members of the Strategic Community Health Oversight Team.
ALSO READ: INEC Issues Stern Warning Ahead of 2027: No Violence, Hate Speech or Armed Squads Will Be Tolerated
The state government’s latest move underscores the importance of community participation in ensuring that investments in Abia’s primary healthcare system are protected, sustained and translated into improved access to quality healthcare for residents.
