Health
US based Nigerian physicians vow to achieve goal of medical mission to Abia

The 60-member team of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas, under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas, ANPA , are currently having busy hours as they embark on their 2024 medical mission taking place in four designated centres in Umuahia, the Abia state capital.
The centres are the Specialist Diagnostic Hospital, Federal Medical Centre, FMC, and Madonna Hospital, Umuahia, respectively as well as the General Hospital, Umuopara, while the patients are besieging the centres from different parts of Abia state and beyond.
About 5,000 patients are said to have registered while above 300 are registered for surgeries during the 10-day exercise. Sources say all the people who were registered came through a process in various Hospitals.
In each of the centres, members of the ANPA are seen carrying out surgeries, attending to other medical issues, conducting CPD training for about 200 medical doctors and other medical personnel. They are also involved in the training of some medical personnel through telemedicine after the medical mission in the state.
Speaking during an interactive session with newsmen in Umuahia, the leader of the team and President of ANPA, Dr. Chinyere Anyaogu said the Motto of the association, which started in 2014, is “A healthier Nigeria, a Healthier World.”
He explained that ANPA aims at helping the needy to secure health, while the vision of the association falls in line with the vision of Governor Alex Otti of Abia state.
He assured that the Association would be able to achieve their goal in the medical mission in Abia.
According to him, “We thrive to help the needy and provide healthcare to those that are not able to afford it. ANPA week is a week of service delivery. It also encompasses capacity building and advocacy. ”
Contributing, the Mission Chair, Dr. Dele Ekunsanmi said the team members are making personal sacrifices in the mission.
According to him, the medical mission is one of the ways of giving back to the society, saying that they are committed to affecting lives positively through the medical mission.
Said he, “We have about 60 volunteer doctors from United States and we have more than a 100 volunteers locally here in Nigeria.”
In her remarks during the interaction, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo gave the assurance that Abia State Government is committed to partnering the association and other Abia medical personnel overseas to provide the needed medical services to Abia people.
She explained that the medical mission is an extension of what Governor Otti has already started doing in the area of healthcare delivery.
Dr. Okoronkwo assured that all the patients that would be attending the medical mission would be followed up by the Abia state government, through the various General Hospitals , where they registered for the medical outreach.
On what Abia state government is putting on table to ensure easy access to quality healthcare delivery and exodus of medical personnel leaving the country for greener pastures, the Commissioner hinted that the state government has started plans for upward review of the salaries of medical personnel in the state to reduce the number of those leaving for abroad.
According to her, government is looking forward to assisting a lot of people in getting healthcare.
Dr. Okoronkwo reiterated that patients are being treated and surgeries conducted at FMC, Abia State Specialist Hospital, Amachara General hospital and Madonna hospital, respectively.
She appreciated the team members of the ANPA for their interest in Abia for also providing consumables for the medical mission.
“As a government, we are trying as much as we can to reduce the number of people leaving the system and to that effect , we have started working on the heath workers’ salaries to improve and increase their salaries as well as engage more people into the system,” she said
“We are very intentional in our administration, This is not the kind of mission , whereby after attending to people, they leave and you don’t know where they are. The General hospitals are aware of them, They are going to continue to follow- up on them until they make full recovery”