NAN – The Enugu State Government has donated antibiotic drugs worth N500,000 to three hospitals with patients affected with gastroenteritis in Nsukka, Udenu and Igboeze South Local Government Areas.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr George Eze, made the presentation during a fact-finding tour to the affected areas with the disease outbreak on Friday in Enugu.
Eze made the donation along with a team of health workers from the state Ministry of Health, representatives of UNICEF and WHO on his entourage to assess the extent of the disease and support the hospitals.
He commended the medical directors of the three affected hospitals for exhibiting dexterity in handling emergency cases of that magnitude.
According to him, the effective management of the disease speaks volume of the need to always have specialists that attend to specialised cases.
Eze said his visit to the three affected hospitals confirmed that the governor, Mr Sullivan Chime, was passionate about healthcare delivery in the state, especially the vulnerable group — under five and pregnant mothers.
The commissioner appreciated the effort of the management of the three affected hospital, while going on ward round in the hospitals.
He thanked the medical directors for partnering with the state government to halt the disease, saying the drugs should be given freely to the affected patients.
“I appreciate the way you have managed the disease, it shows that the state will be at peace whenever something similar occurs in these three councils,’’ he said.
According to him, as I donate these drugs on behalf of the governor, Mr Sullivan Chime, I urge you to do more.
In his response, the Medical Director of Chidubem Specialist Hospital in Nsukka, Dr Nicholas Ezeugwu, said the outbreak did not concentrate on any particular social class.
According to him, both the rich and the poor were affected by the outbreak of the disease.
Rev. Josephat Odoh, who represented the Chief Medical Director, Bishop Shenaham Specialist Hospital, Nsukka, said the number of those with the disease had declined when compared to the early stage of the outbreak.
“We had as many as 12 cases admitted in a day, though the situation has improved with one or two cases,“ he said.
