…Organises Free Medical Outreaches Across 17 LGAs
By Tony Adibe
A group of medical doctors operating in Enugu State have said that they are supporting the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Peter Mbah, insisting that they decided to support him after a careful assessment of his manifesto.
This development came as the leadership of the National Disability Support Forum for Good Governance pledged to support the Dr. Mbah candidacy in the March 11, 2023, election. The medical doctors, under the banner of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, led by its President, Dr. Ofonere Chukwunonso, described themselves as medical field marshals saving lives in the country.
Dr. Chukwunonso said: “We have understudied your manifesto and we know you have a good plan for the people of Enugu State. We came to align with your vision, and we want to collaborate with you for a better, functional and robust health system in the state.”
The group further lauded Dr. Mbah’s manifesto and statement of purpose to Enugu people, noting that it would revolutionize the health sector in the state if implemented to the letter. While restating their commitment to key into the project and spread the excellent message in the manifesto, the doctors said they had already taken steps to organize free medical outreaches across the 17 local government areas of the state as part of their contribution.
“We want to embark on medical outreaches for you in all the 17 council areas in the state. Parklane serves other states and local government areas, and we want to engage your programmes with our colleagues, clients and the general public and tell them about your plans for them. They’ll further cascade the message to their various communities.
“Parklane is a centre for treatment, training and research, innovation and development that will help in the treatment of diseases. Although, we are facing scarcity of doctors as a result of brain drain but we know you’re going to curb it when you come into office,” Chukwunonso added.
Also, delegates from people with disabilities, equally reiterated their support for the PDP gubernatorial candidate, stressing that they’re reaching out to their people across the state to come out en masse and queue behind the PDP at the polls.
Speaking at a solidarity visit to the governorship candidate, Hon. Jude Eze, who led the association, said there’s no alternative to Dr. Mbah’s candidacy in the state. They commended him for his philanthropic gestures which he had been extending to them over the years through his charity organization, the Peter Mbah Foundation, adding that their permanent voter’s cards were intact and would be used to deliver bloc votes for him on the day of election.
Reacting to the groups’ solidarity visits, Dr. Mbah said he was excited to hear that the bodies had already taken ownership of the project even as he added his administration would partner with them for the progress and wellbeing of the people.
“I like the ideas of partnership and the programmes you’ve outlined for us. Part of the plan we have in healthcare sector is one that will see Enugu become the epicentre of health services in the country because there are lots of opportunities for us. That’s why we said we want to make Enugu State the healthcare tourism in West Africa,” he said.
While lamenting the negative implication of migration to overseas by young medical practitioners on the nation’s health system, called the Japa syndrome, Dr. Mbah promised to end the migrating workforce with the improvement of the welfare of healthcare workers in the state.
“We want to ensure we take proactive steps that will put an end to that. Growing the economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion requires constructive investment and massive infrastructure. And we are going to put them in place. We’ll improve on the welfare of our medical practitioners, ensure there’s health insurance scheme and other covers for doctors working in the state.”
Dr Mbah, however, charged the doctors to think beyond the existing mode of medical practice to today’s global innovation in the medical profession such as the biotechnology which is more advanced in the treatment of patients. He promised that his administration will train, retrain, and equip young practitioners to meet up with the modern system of health care in the state.
