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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Federal Government has urged governors across the 36 states of Nigeria to adequately increase numbers of health workers in the primary health care centres (PHCs) in their states, apart from provision of drugs, security and light, saying the governors should not limit revitalisation of the primary health facilities to renovation of structures alone.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, gave the urge in an interview with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during his one-day working visit to the state.
He was received by Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Bode Ladipo, and the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Muideen Olatunji, at the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Yemetu, Ibadan, the state capital.
According to him, the lack of adequate human resources in a number of PHCs has affected smooth access to primary health care services in some states of the federation.
His words: “The governors are doing very well. We are also encouraging them to increase the number of health workers in the primary health care space. In a number of states, you will see a situation where we don’t have adequate human resources. However, we are glad to see that Oyo State is doing very well in terms of recruiting more people into the primary health care centres. But we do need to get adequate human resources so that we will have a well trained, respectful health workers to attend to people at various health centres. We need to improve quality of healthcare in our PHCs, and that is why we are working with governors, commissioners and traditional rulers to see how we can move from where we are to the next level.”
Answering questions on the height Nigeria has attained in the provision of primary health care services to the populace, Shuaib said: “We are doing better than we used to few years ago because we have now been able to understand exactly what the requirements are for us to revitalise our primary health care centres.
“We have understood very clearly now that no matter the amount of money you need in the health sector, it is not wise to spend as much money in building large tertiary hospitals. What you need to spend your money on is in revitalising primary health care centres. Revitalising PHCs is not just about renovating the buildings, it is about making sure that you recruit well trained health workers that understand how to manage people, and these people should be well paid, ensure there is security around the infrastructure, as well as water, light and drugs. This is what revitalisation means.
“We have an ambition to have at least one functional PHC per political ward. In the past four years, the Federal Government has renovated up to 4,000 primary health care centres. It is not the renovation alone that we want to achieve. We want to revitalise them, which means making sure that we work with subnational levels to make sure that health workers are recruited into the facilities. Then, we will ensure that these health workers go through periodic trainings that will make them have quality, knowledge and the capacity to able to deliver quality health services to Nigerians.
“Health care of Nigerians is our priority, and that is why we are working with stakeholders at the subnational levels in making sure that Nigerians are well treated with dignity and compassion whenever they access these facilities; they are respected, and making sure they are given medication and management that will make them recover from their illness.”
Shuaib, however, lauded the efforts of the state government, particularly the primary health care development board and the Ministry of Health towards giving immunization to adults and children across the state. He added that he looked at the reports on the immunisation against various diseases and viruses in Oyo State, saying the state is one of the best performing states when it come to the optimised strategy termed ‘SCALES 3.0’ to accelerate integrated COVID-19 vaccination and address identified implementation gaps in ramping up coverage in Nigeria, which was launched in Abuja three weeks ago.
“We are very proud of the work that is going on here in Oyo State, and as part of the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency’s mantra around accountability, we shouldn’t only look at what is not working, we should also look at what is working well. We are here today to encouraged them and commend them for the outstanding work they have been doing, and to tell them that Nigerians in general appreciate them.”
In his remark, the Commissioner for health in the state, Dr Bode Ladipo, lauded Shuaib for the visitation, describing it as an attestation to the efforts of the state government towards affordable health care delivery, which, he said, is one of the priorities of the state government under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde, that is currently working on renovation of over 351 PHCs across the state. He assured that all the PHCs shall become fully operational by the end of the present administration. The people in the state, according to him, now have access to affordable health care services.
