We’ve Seen 37,000 Patients! — Abia’s World-Class Eye Centres Wow National Board After 30 Years
Abia State’s healthcare revolution is getting national applause as the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria (ODORBN) has rated the state’s eye centres as world-class.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Board, Dr Obinna Edwin Awiaka, gave the verdict after an accreditation tour of eye care facilities in the state.
Facilities visited include:
– Arochukwu General Hospital.
– Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia.
– Aba General Hospital.
A First in Almost 30 Years of Practice
Dr Awiaka, a veteran optometrist with close to three decades of practice, said he had never seen such standard in Nigeria.
“I have not seen anything like this in Nigeria. And this is almost three decades of practice and I am really thrilled at the attention, the standard, the quality and the equipment that has been put in place for the people of Abia State,” he said.
“With what we have here, we will see people coming from all over the South-South and South-East to access eye care.”
He said the equipment and facilities are in line with universal health care standards.
First-Ever Accreditation
The Administrator of the Abia State Eye Health Management Bureau, Dr Betty Emeka-Obasi, said the visit marks the first time Abia eye centres are getting accreditation from the national regulatory board.
She linked the achievement to Governor Alex Otti’s commitment to quality healthcare.
“We have seen about 35,000 to 37,000 patients walk in, in these two years, and we have gone out there with outreaches, screened, taking out free medicals, surgeries, among others to them out there,” Dr Emeka-Obasi revealed.
The Abia Eye Health Management Bureau has been driving free screenings, free surgeries and community outreaches across the 17 LGAs, as part of the Otti administration’s health reforms.
The commendation comes just days after the RMAFC rated Abia as the best-governed state in Nigeria, and as a new support group, Alpha Abia RISE, launched to institutionalise Otti’s governance model of competence, accountability and service.
