From Sylvia Udegbunam Enugu

Enugu State Government has reiterated its commitment to strengthening the healthcare and education sectors in the state, assuring the provision of quality medical care services to the people.The government said it had put measures in place to flush out quackery in medical practice, warning that imposters would be prosecuted.

The state governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, disclosed this on Friday while speaking to newsmen at the 49th Annual General Meeting and 48th Scientific Conference of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria, which was held in Enugu. Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, Governor Mbah said: “We have just recently set up a team to address quackery in Enugu State to ensure that those who have no qualifications have no business being in our health care facilities. Culpable persons engaging in these illegal and unethical practices will be dealt with in accordance with the law if caught.”On strengthening the health sector, the governor added that, “Enugu State is a centre right now for educational and health advancement”, disclosing that the State Executive Council had approved the establishment of Enugu International Hospital at Rangers Avenue, Independence Layout, Enugu.He said the hospital would create opportunities for specialist areas which would take care of medical tourism. “The hospital will be fully equipped and manned by those that are very knowledgeable in hospital management, with quality academics and health practitioners.”Mbah further said the state government was building 260 primary healthcare facilities in the 260 electoral wards across the state, noting that more secondary and tertiary hospitals were also underway.Describing the mass migration of healthcare professionals outside the country as worrisome, the governor said the administration was paying 100 percent CONMESS to medical practitioners in Enugu to discourage brain drain, popularly known as the Japa syndrome.Fielding questions from newsmen on the practice of ophthalmology, the State Commissioner for Health, Prof Ikechukwu Obi, said that ophthalmology is a specialist practice which takes place in both government and private sectors.”Enugu State has had a state teaching hospital for several years and Enugu is also hosting a federal teaching hospital. So, you can see very clearly that ophthalmological practice has been in Enugu in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and the Enugu State Teaching Hospital, Parklane, and soon it will also be at the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences Teaching Hospital, Igbo-Eno, and even the multiple specialist eye clinics can now be possible because we are bringing in the Enugu International Hospital that is going to be right in the center of the city, at Rangers Avenue, and then, every level of specialist eye care can be possible in that area of specialization,” Obi said.Speaking on prevention of blindness, the former President of OSN, Dr Bade Ogundipe, said someone could donate their eyes before they die and inform their family, so that when they die, within a short period their cornea would be harvested and given to visually impaired patients for sight restoration.On his part, a resource consultant, Prof Nwosu, who spoke on the high prevalence of glaucoma in the South East zone of Nigeria, said it was genetic, stressing that the South East was genetically prone to glaucoma.Nwosu noted that “the most important thing is to spread the news that glaucoma runs in the blood so that people who have it and their relatives will go to hospital for early check ups. He advised people, especially women, not to apply unorthodox medicine in the eyes whenever they feel symptoms of eye problem.”Do not put urine or breastmilk in the eye. Do not use any unorthodox medicine. If any member of your family has been diagnosed as having eye disease, do not wait until it comes to you. Go for a preventive check,” Nwosu advised.