Follow Us on Google
From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Executive Secretary, Taraba State Primary Health Care Development Agency (TSPHCDA), Dr. Tukura Nuhu, has identified inadequate counterpart funding, a lack of office accommodation, and poor budget releases as major challenges undermining primary healthcare delivery across the state.
Briefing journalists in Jalingo on the agency’s milestones under Governor Agbu Kefas, he listed unpaid electricity bills, insufficient monthly operational imprest, and high fuel costs for maintaining cold stores as key operational hurdles.
Despite the constraints, Nuhu noted that the agency has made significant progress. He added that under the IMPACT project, the state government has revitalised one primary healthcare centre in each political ward in the states making a total of 113.
It was also stated that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) revitalised three PHCs across the senatorial zones, while 13 others are being upgraded from Level One to Level Two under a Global Fund-supported programme, being implemented by UNICEF.
On manpower development, Nuhu revealed that the administration employed 450 personnel, including community health extension workers, lab technicians, PHC technicians, midwives, and community nurses.
Other News
He stated further that the agency also recruited 336 staff for emergency medical ambulance services and approved the engagement of 480 community-based health workers.
The agency, according to him, developed an Annual Operational Plan (AOP), instituted an accountability framework across local councils, conducted Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) activities, and trained 45 workers on Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition.
Nuhu highlighted that expanded vaccine storage capacity helped slash the number of zero-dose children from 24 per cent to four per cent, while skilled birth attendance rose from 54.7 per cent to 74.5 per cent.
Taraba was also recognised as the best-performing state nationwide during the recent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Measles-Rubella vaccination campaigns.
He, however, advocated urgent government intervention to address the agency’s operational bottlenecks.
