Communities, stakeholders urged to take ownership of PHCs

From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar

Civil society organisations working on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM) Network have called on communities and stakeholders in Cross River State to take ownership of their Primary Health Centres (PHCs), to improve service delivery and sustainability.

The call was made at a Focused Advocacy Media Roundtable in Calabar organised under the Integrated Community-Led Monitoring (I-CLM), project.

The project is implemented by the ATM Networks, a coalition of  Civil Society for the Eradication of Tuberculosis-Nigeria (TB NETWORK), Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (NEPWHAN) and the Association of Civil Society Organizations on Malaria, Immunization and Nutrition – (ACOMIN) in partnership with the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, IHVN, with funding from the Global Fund GC7 Grant.

State Programme Officer, Victor Ogwuche, said data from October 2025 to May 2026 showed communities in Odukpani, Ikom and Obudu LGAs provided patient chairs, hospital equipment and cleaned PHC premises as proof of ownership.

He cited instances were focal communities  in Odukpani, Ikom and Obudu LGAs provided assorted plastic patient’s chairs, hospital equipment and supplies, cleaning of PHCs environment etc as show of ownership, saying other communities in the State should emulate this.

Ogwuche said community ownership was key to sustaining the gains. “When communities own the health centre, they protect it.”

Presenting the Media brief, State Coordinator of ACOMIN,  Effiong Udobong, said the model engages community stakeholders to own health interventions.

He added that  the ATM Network deploys  Community-Led Monitoring to identify gaps that hinder service delivery.

State Coordinator of NEPWHAN, Sunday Eminue, said issues are identified through client exit interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions before being escalated to relevant stakeholders.

Stakeholders hope this data-driven monitoring model will inspire wider state-level interventions and policy changes to revitalize primary healthcare across the state.