Abia State Government has said it has through the Ministry of Health piloted a digital application called CyTracker, designed to identify and track high-risk pregnancies, to reduce maternal and child mortality.
Information Commissioner Prince Okey Kanu said this while briefing reporters in Umuahia on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
He said the application had already been successfully used to track teenage pregnancies and monitor expectant mothers through delivery, describing the initiative as another practical demonstration of the administration’s commitment to using technology to improve health care outcomes.
The commissioner said Abia State had emerged as the number one in health care affordability and among the top three states in health care quality in Nigeria.
He said the recognition was contained in a recent assessment by Philips Consulting SPI, representing an independent validation of the administration’s efforts to reposition the state’s health sector and improve access to quality health care for residents.
Kanu said Abia was the only state that achieved top three positions in 13 out of 16 indicators of good governance based on citizens’ perception, adding that the state’s strong performance in health care affordability and quality further demonstrated the impact of the administration’s reforms.
The commissioner, who further gave update on the functionalisation of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), said the first 50 functionalised PHCs accounted for more than 20 per cent of the over 1.067 million outpatient department visits recorded across the state between July 2025 and June 2026.
He said three additional PHCs had been functionalised between July 27 and August 10, bringing the total number of functionalised PHCs in the state to 151.
The commissioner disclosed that enrolment in Abia State Health Insurance Scheme had risen from 233,000 to 237,000 between July 27 and August 7, 2026.
He also announced that the state recorded no disease of public health importance during the period under review, including Ebola, Lassa fever, COVID-19, diphtheria, cholera, mpox and yellow fever.
He said Abiriba Community Improvement Union, North America chapter, was committed to sponsoring 1,000 indigent persons under the state’s health insurance scheme, calling on other communities, organisations and groups to emulate the initiative.
On human resources for the health sector, the commissioner said Abia State Civil Service Commission would begin another round of recruitment of health care professionals, following the employment of 742 medical personnel by the administration so far.
He said the new recruitment would focus on medical officers, dental officers and consultants, including full-time and part-time consultants, adding that the application portal opened on Monday night.
Answering questions, Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Uche, said the CyTracker initiative was developed as part of comprehensive measures to tackle maternal and infant mortality in the state.
Uche said the initiative focused on identifying women who were at higher risk of complications, including teenage mothers, women without supervised antenatal care and expectant mothers, who might deliver without the assistance of skilled birth attendants.
He says the application collects key demographic and pregnancy information, including the woman’s age and last menstrual period, which enables health officials to determine expected delivery dates and monitor compliance with antenatal appointments.
He said expectant mothers could receive reminders through the application, while responsible adults within their communities could assist in ensuring high risk expectant mothers attended their scheduled antenatal appointments.