DETERMINED to make health care services accessible, affordable, meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and universal health coverage by 2015, the Abia State government has refurbished the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia with state-of-the-art medical facilities.Established in 1991, the FMC evolved from the Queen Elizabeth Specialist Hospital, which though established in 1945, was commissioned on March 24, 1956 by a representative of Her Majesty, the Queen Elizabeth II of England Sir Clement Pleas.Medical Director, FMC Umuahia, Dr. Abali Chukwu, told The Guardian in an exclusive interview that the hospital has started a strategic plan to improve the quality of existing services, increase the level of research and the scope and depth of training and teaching by 2015.Chukwu said part of the strategic plan is the development of new functional areas: renal centre endoscopy centre, centre for In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), mammography centre, dermatology unit, oncology unit, endocrinology unit, and respiratory medicine unit.The medical director said the hospital plans to achieve accreditation in internal medicine, paediatrics, family medicine, public health, ophthalmology, and anaesthiology.'Human Resources Development to support our growth and needs will be accorded priority. We will develop facilities to support the above units as well as attract medical tourism. We will be alive to our social responsibility as a tertiary hospital,' he said.Chukwu added: 'We are the foremost Federal Medical Centre providing specialised and comprehensive health care using modern equipment, research and training through highly motivated workforce operating in a friendly and conducive environment that captures our antecedent as a mission hospital.'Chukwu said the FMC Umuahia plans to meet universal health coverage by 2015 through improved access to health services and improved health outcomes. 'Also, being one of the many National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) outlets for quality services, the FMC Umuahia is contributing to the provision of affordable quality health,' he said.Chukwu said part of the plan by the FMC Umuahia to ensure universal health coverage for all citizens of Abia State by 2015 is that it has launched the 'Seek and Area of Excellence Project.'He said the hospital's staff is required within this project to seek an area where they can excel. The consultants are encouraged to seek a niche within their discipline to develop to the point of meeting the type of service obtainable in Europe.The medical director said the hospital's focus within this project is to develop FMC Umuahia as a destination for medical tourism. He said the Centre has trained one of its obstetricians interested in IVF to specialise in this area and will be assisted to provide care that would equate that in India and Europe.He further explained: 'The Japanese say if you want to be the best all you will need do is copy the current best and put in one per cent more. We are also training one of our doctors to provide modern urological care. We will before the turn of the year be ranked among the top centres for the management of prostatic diseases and endoscopic surgery. We are also in partnership with some doctors in the United Kingdom who are assisting us train our orthopaedic surgeons in hip replacement surgery and arthroplasty. We already are a centre for cleft lip surgery and low vision care.'The physician said the hospital is contributing to the MDGs by providing one of the lowest maternal mortality rates for booked obstetrics care in Nigeria. 'In 2011 we recorded 295 deaths per 100,000 births. In 2010 it was 236 per 100,000, while in 2009 it was 321 per 100,000. In 2008 it was 216 per 100,000. In 2007 it was 133 per 100,000, while in 2006 nil death,' he said.
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