Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, has called on influential citizens, wealthy individuals and private organisations to adopt public health facilities within their communities.
Ugwu, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, made the call on Sunday in Enugu while elaborating on his “Community Health Stewardship” model, which he proposed during the 251st Inaugural Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
The lecture, delivered on September 3, was titled “The Mother, the Child and the State: My Triumphant Journey from Evidence to Action.”
He noted that effective community contributions through health stewardship would supplement public funding.
According to him, women, young people, persons with disabilities, poor households and marginalised settlements need meaningful representation to ensure they always have access to quality healthcare in their localities.
“I propose a model of Community Health Stewardship, in which respected individuals, professional associations, private organisations, faith-based institutions and community leaders voluntarily adopt public health facilities and provide sustained support through long-term stewardship agreements.
“States should use equity mechanisms to prevent wealthy communities from accumulating well-supported facilities while poorer communities fall further behind,” said Ugwu, a former Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (EN-PHCDA).
He also recommended protecting the health workforce and ensuring health data is usable and translated into real impact on the people.
“The government must address the conditions that drive attrition and physician emigration, including poor working conditions, inadequate equipment, insecurity, limited professional opportunities and weak institutional credibility.
“Workforce policy should combine fair remuneration with safe workplaces, essential tools, continuing development and credible career pathways.
“Digital systems should be built around decisions rather than dashboards.
“Every priority indicator should have a named owner, an action threshold, a feedback cycle and an auditable response,” he said.
Ugwu, a research clinician with over two decades of experience, noted that the main clinical causes of maternal and newborn mortality are well known.
“Haemorrhage and hypertensive disorders account for large shares of direct maternal deaths, while infection, complications of abortion, thromboembolism and indirect medical conditions add to the burden.
“Prematurity, intrapartum-related events, congenital conditions and infection account for much of newborn mortality,” he said.
He added that high-quality antenatal care, skilled attendance at birth, timely emergency obstetric and newborn care, blood transfusion, safe surgery, newborn resuscitation, family planning and appropriate postnatal care would help prevent maternal deaths and near-misses.
The persistent burden of newborn mortality, maternal mortality and maternal near-miss, he said, reflects more than a shortage of medical knowledge.
A clinically effective intervention has no impact when a woman cannot access it, the facility does not provide it, the health worker lacks the required tools, the family cannot afford it, or the institution fails to learn from previous failures.
Ugwu has made significant contributions to public health and clinical medicine as a clinician and technocrat, with over 70 academic research publications to his credit.
