DEVELOPMENT
Abia Records Major Public Health Milestone as 2025 Global Medical Outreach Delivers Over 3,000 Free Treatments, Surgeries, and Advanced Training for Health Workers
Abia State has recorded another significant milestone in its health sector reform efforts as the 2025 Global Medical Outreach successfully delivered thousands of free medical services and strengthened the capacity of health workers across the state.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, made this known on Tuesday at the Government House, Umuahia, while briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
Prince Kanu announced that the Global Medical Outreach, which held between December 15 and 20, 2025, was conducted across five centres in the state and provided over 3,000 free medical treatments to residents.
According to him, the outreach also facilitated eye and other surgical procedures for 120 patients, bringing critical relief to many Abians who would otherwise have been unable to access such services.
Beyond the direct medical interventions, the Commissioner disclosed that the outreach delivered long-term value to the state’s health system through intensive capacity building. He revealed that 62 health workers in Abia State were trained on basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support skills, a move aimed at improving emergency response and saving lives across health facilities.
“Also, one of the very beautiful outcomes of the medical outreach is the fact that 62 health workers here in the state were trained on basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support skills. And this came with the American Heart Association certification,” Prince Kanu stated.
He explained that the American Heart Association certification further underscores the quality and international standard of the training received by Abia health professionals, positioning them to deliver better emergency and critical care services.
Prince Kanu also announced that the state government is sustaining the momentum with plans for another free medical outreach scheduled to hold between January 7 and 12, 2026.
According to him, the upcoming outreach is a collaborative initiative between the Abia State Government and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses.
He said the programme will be implemented across seven adopted primary healthcare centres in the state and will include free training sessions for Abia health workers at the Federal Medical Centre Chapel, Umuahia.
The Commissioner noted that these initiatives reflect the Otti administration’s deliberate commitment to expanding access to quality healthcare, strengthening primary healthcare delivery, and continuously building the skills of health professionals to meet the medic
al needs of Abians.