Okowa's Scorecard

Health Sector

Health Infrastructure
Improvement of the quality of infrastructure in Primary and Secondary Health Facilities.

  • 65 Hospitals newly renovated/upgraded
  • 209 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) renovated/upgraded
  • Ongoing construction of Diagnostic Medical Complex
  • Ongoing construction/renovation of 3 Mother and Child Centres
  • Ongoing Renovation/Remodeling of Clinical Building at Delta State University Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, Delta State

Emergency Response Services

  • 38 emergency bus ambulances and 6 emergency boat ambulances procured

Human Resource for Health
Ensuring full accreditation of all Human Resource for Health training institutions in the State and expanding the number of training institutions offering Degree Programme in Nursing in the State.

  • 7 fully accredited health training institutions in the State
  • Ongoing processes of acquiring 3 Schools of Nursing offering degree Programmes

Drug Abuse Control
Reducing incidence of drug abuse in the state and rehabilitating victims of drug abuse

  • Activities in top gear to increase the 56 drug
    free clubs in schools to 180
  • Ongoing construction and equipping of Drug
    Rehabilitation Centre and recruitment of health personnel at the at Central Hospital Kwale.

Health Financing
Expanding the State Contributory health Scheme to cover all Deltans including the informal sector and increase access to health facilities with Delta State Contributory Health Commission/Basic Health Care Provision Fund (DSCHC/BHCPF) cover across the State.

Health Manpower Personnel

  • 142 health professionals were recruited at Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH),  Oghara in year 2019 and 2020.
  • 255 health professionals has been recruited in the Hospital Management Board (HMB)
  • 155 health professionals were recruited at the Asaba Specialist Hospital (ASH), Asaba in year 2020

The Bill establishing the Delta State Contributory Health Commission was signed into Law by His Excellency Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, on the 4th of February 2016.  The Law established The Delta State Contributory Health Commission (DSCHC), The Delta State Contributory Health Scheme (DSCHS) and other Matters Connected Thereto as well as a Governing Board for the DSCHC which will regulate, supervise, implement and ensure an effective administration of a “Mandatory” Delta State Contributory Health Scheme for all residents of Delta State. 

  • Over 1,000,000 enrollees
  • 346 – Primary Healthcare Centres
  • 69 – Government Hospitals
  • 77 – Private Hospitals
  • 4 – HOSPITALS OUTSIDE DELTA STATE
  • Setting up of the Governing Board
  • Establishment of an Operational Office
  • Access to 17 finance facilities
  • Public Sector Workers under the Formal Health Plan
  • Pregnant Women & Children below 5 years under the Equity Health Plan
  • Widows and Artisan under the Informal Health Plan

    The DSCHS has 4 Enrollee Health Plans: 
  1. Formal Health Plan for those whose premium are paid via Payroll % deductions covering a Husband, Wife and 4 Children below 18 years with a counterpart employer contribution for each Principal Enrollee.
  2. Informal Health Plan for those whose premium of N7,000/year/Enrollee are paid per individual enrollee covering only the individual enrollee.
  3. Equity Health Plan for those who have been classified as belonging to the Vulnerable Group (Pregnant Women, Children Under 5 Years, Elderly above 65 Years, Physically and Mentally Challenged and all residents of Delta State classified as Poor). Their Premium of N7,000/year/Enrollee is paid for by the Delta State Government.
  4. Before commencement of service delivery, the DSCHC conducted a Baseline Assessment Survey that: –
  • Determined key household demography and health seeking behavior of Deltans to guide planning for an expanded health insurance coverage.
  • Determined the current household spending on health, health insurance coverage needs and willingness to pay for health insurance in Delta State.
  • Estimated the proportion of Delta State residents in the lowest socio-economic quintiles, to guide decisions on subsidy and or exemptions from payment.
  • Assessed the availability and capacity of health delivery facilities in Delta State to deliver proposed health insurance services
  • Assessed the readiness of health facilities to deliver proposed services across all 25 LGAs.

The Baseline Assessment Survey Report is available at the Download Section of the DSCHC Website www.dschc.org.ng.
To ensure availability of quality services and affordable quality drugs especially for Non-Communicable Diseases which usually have a huge drugs and other service management cost, the DSCHC representing the Delta State Government signed an MOU with Servier Pharmaceutical of France for its “Hospital Cash Cover Program” that will provide subsidized Anti-hypertensive and Diabetics Drugs; Train 200 health service delivery personnel in Delta State on the latest treatment protocol in management of Hypertension and Diabetes;

To ensure a seamless service delivery through ICT, the DSCHC representing the Delta State Government also signed an MOU with Interswitch and eClat Health to deploy an ICT platform for the Scheme using Interswitch and eClat Health software and infrastructure. This program provides an elaborate online real-time electronic medical record, electronic treatment services, electronic referral code request, electronic billing with analytics and reporting.

To ensure availability of quality healthcare services in rural hard to reach communities in Delta State, the Delta State Contributory Health Commission representing the Delta State Government in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is partnering with the Pharmacist Foundation, Bank of Industry (BOI) and UBA under the SME program for an “Access to Finance” program to revitalise 25 defunct Healthcare facilities in rural communities leveraging on the Private Sector capacity and efficiency of service. 15 out of the 25 defunct HCFs are currently functional providing quality healthcare services in” Hard to Reach Difficult Terrain” communities in Delta State that had no access to healthcare services for several years.

In an effort to further improve on the management of Non- Communicable Diseases, the Delta State Contributory Health Commission representing the Delta State Government is also partnering with SANOFI a French Drug manufacturing company to:

  1.  build capacity for 400 HCPs (Doctors,Nurses,
  2.  Pharmacists and CHEWS) toincrease the number and quality ofHealth Care Providers (HCPs) in rural PHCs.
  3. Upgrade of Rural PHCs, to strengthen the management of diabetes and hypertension by implementing Diabetes and Hypertension Clinics through provision of medical utility equipment,educational materials and up-skilling the HCPs to increase the utilization of the PHCs by patients in underserved communities. (The “A2F” Polobubo,Oporoza, Ovwor-Olomu and Obior HCFswere selected as the initial Rural HCFs forthe Diabetic Hypertensive Clinics).
  4. Enroll 2000 Patients into the DSCHSthrough Support Payment of theirPremium by SANOFI and screening of 10,000 residents to identify undiagnosedpeople living with diabetes andhypertension in rural communities.
  5. Provide 50% discount price off Insulin marketprice by Sanofi to the Delta State Drug Revolving Fund

The Delta State Primary Health Care Development Agency (DSPHCDA) was established by the Delta State Government in the year 2005 with the vision of having a vibrant and robust PHC system that is community oriented and serve as the entry point into the Delta State and entire National Health Care system. The Agency’s strategic approach to achieving this vision is through the strengthening of community linkages, adopting the bottom-up approach to management, and intersectoral collaboration in program management for integrated successful outcomes. 

The DSPHCDA is primarily saddled with community Health Promotion, Health Protection, Disease Prevention, Early Diagnosis and treatment and Community Rehabilitation. The Agency is intensifying community awareness programmes on various aspects of Primary Health Care to increase uptake of critical PHC services.

The Governor of Delta State Sen. Dr Ifeanyi Okowa led administration has since inception in 2015 taken far reaching steps to strengthen the weak PHC system.

Strengthening Primary Health Care Governance: At the State the Primary Health Care Development Agency was created in 2004 when Sen. Dr Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa was the State Commissioner for Health.  At the Local Government level, Local Health Authorities have been established and at the Ward level, Ward Health Development Committees (268 WDCs) have not only been created, they are functional.

Infrastructure Development: 107 PHC Centers rehabilitated and upgraded for a better working condition and improved utilization by clients.

Human Resources for Primary Health Care:
There was a wide gap (80%) between the available manpower and required manpower.
This has been reduced to 60%. In 2018 the State employed
a. 93 Registered Nurse/Midwives

b. 6 Medical Doctors

c. 107 Community Health Extension Workers and

d. 62 Health Assistants

This amounted to about 20% employment of needed health manpower.
They are currently engaged in 107 Primary Health Care Centers across the State.

Training and Continuous Health worker orientation and Development are paramount to addressing the negative attitude of frontline staff towards clients.

Minimum Service Package (MSP): This is a range of health services recommended by the United nations health Assembly at the Primary Health Care Level. The baseline study done in 2016 showed that many of the purported Primary Health Care Centers were below standard and therefore wronged tagged PHC Centers. In the following year 2017, the Government gave approval for the evaluation of existing Health Facilities and subsequently commended their appropriate classification. Following this, 485 public health Facilities have been named Primary Health Care Centers, 269 are Private Health Facilities, 64 Public Secondary Health Facilities and 2 Tertiary Health Facilities. All 820 Health Facilities are functional and report data on the web-based District Health Information System (DHIS). This classification has improved the prompt management of patients in Health Facilities with due referrals made to appropriately designated Secondary or Tertiary Hospitals.

The Minimum Service Package at the State PHC level includes:

  •  Health Promotion: The DSPHCDA carries out Advocacy to Policy makers; sensitizes Stakeholders and it is well grounded incommunity mobilization. This has improved the populace awareness for health with a remarkable demand for services whichhas translated into increasing coverage of services uptake.

  • Family Planning Services: This is provided for both sexes in their reproductive ages. Now Deltans have a greater access to and use of modern family planning methods. Family income saved and ploughed for improve family wellbeing- better education, provision of shelter etc. It is done in partnership with Marystope, Society for Family Health, Association for Reproductivenand Family Health, The Challenge Initiative-TCI etc.

Essential Obstetric Care (EOC) is offered at the PHC and other levels of care through the State Free Maternal Care. The PHC System does so in collaboration with the State ministry Health and the State Contributory Health Commission.

Immunization Services is largely offered in PHC Centers across the State. The Routine Immunization Coverage has consistently stayed above the national recommended target of 80%.

Supplemental Immunization Cold Chain capacity has increased such that every health Ward now has a Solar Direct Drive Refrigerator. Disease Surveillance is regularly done to determine risk spots for disease outbreak. The indicators enable Government and partners to jointly to put in place necessary resources and actions for disease prevention in instances of accidental occurrences of notifiable diseases, a prompt outbreak response is instituted to contain the disease(s).

Food and Nutrition Programme is strengthened towards improving the nutritional status of the less privileged. Her Excellency is the State Adolescent Nutrition Champion for the institutional prevention of Child and Adolescent Malnutrition through the Community Management of Malnutrition for Children and the Adolescent Nutrition Programme for in-school and out of School Adolescents.

Malaria Elimination Programme: Knowing that malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the population, the State commits huge resources by providing Personnel, Funds, Drugs, Equipment and commodities to reversing the trend.

Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme is owned by the State by way of regular Counterpart Cash Contribution and staff dedication. The expanded Community Mass Administration of Medicines has reduced the burden of parasitic infestations of River blindness, Bilharziasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis. The State is moving towards the attainment of the “elimination of River blindness). This effort is greatly supported by The carter Center.

Supportive Monitoring and Supervision as a strategy for improving programme performance is well adopted by the DSPHCDA.It has helped the management to carry out on-sight assessment of health staff at work, state of the Health Facilities and so provided useful data for programme improvement.

Disaster Management
The DSPHCDA responds swiftly to emergencies when they arise.

Waste management
Medical wastes particularly those generated from vaccination are destroyed through Public-Private Partnership.

Partnership
The DSPHCDA collaborates with relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including Communities and individuals at all times. FMOH, NPHCDA, NDDC, WHO, UNICEF, The Carter Center, AFENET, SMH, Rotary International, Soroptimist International etc.