Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti has commissioned the 100-bed multipurpose hospital in Obeaja autonomous community Ugwunagbo Local Government Area, built by the federal government under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Speaking during the commissioning on Wednesday, the governor commended the federal government for its commitment towards the health sector while highlighting that Abia is taking health seriously by devoting 15 per cent of the state’s budget to health.

Governor Otti while emphasizing the importance of healthcare in his administration’s strategic agenda, highlighted the 2001 Abuja Declaration, in which other African countries pledged to allocate at least 15 per cent of their budgets to healthcare, pointing out that Abia State’s 2024 budget has met the target.

“Healthcare occupies a major position in our strategy as a government. In 2001, the heads of governments in Africa under what is now known as Abuja declaration met in Abuja and gave a directive that all the countries of the African union should allocate no less than 15 per cent of their budget to healthcare.

“The jury is still out as to how many of those countries that adopted that resolution have complied. I’m happy to report that the current 2024 budget of Abia state government which we are halfway in implementing, allocated 15 per cent of the budget to healthcare.”

The governor noted that the goal of his administration for the health sector is in alignment with the federal government’s Sustainable Development Goal 3, which aims to reduce maternal mortality to 70 per 1000 live births by 2030.

The governor, however expressed optimism about future improvements assuring that with his administration’s deliberate focus on the healthcare sector, the state would witness a downturn in infant maternal mortality rates.