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From Jude Dangwam, Jos
The Rotary Club of Jos Central has donated hospital equipment to three Primary Healthcare Centres in Jos South and Jos North Local Government Areas as part of their contributions to addressing Maternal and Child Healthcare in Plateau State.
The Club President, Rotn Dr Kayode Fasua, expressed shock at the condition of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Utan where intervention was also made by the Club in the areas of hospital equipment such as “Nebulizers, BP Apparatuses, HIV Testing kits, Mosquito Nets” among others
According to Fasua, “When we enter the Primary Healthcare Centre in Utan it was depressing. I wasn’t expecting it, as a matter of fact, it caught me unaware because we are just coming from the PCH Rantiya, it mot as if that of Rantiya is fantastic but is just a little bit decent.
“But when I enter the PHC Utan I really don’t know what to call it, because is not even looking like a medical setting. One of the places they said they usually do vaccines there is like poultry.
“If you look up you will see cobwebs everywhere, their roof is open with holes every. When we entered the Wards, as a matter of fact, the rooms and the wards are just by the main road. There are no mattresses on the beds, they said they have to take them somewhere, everywhere was completely dilapidated!
“I don’t see any sick person going into that kind of place and getting well. As I told them there that anybody that comes there will require a spiritual intervention to be healed, it is not going to be the drugs or anything at all. Be rest assured that they don’t have the basic facilities as a Health Centre.”
He said the PHC is in need of urgent attention and hinted at some moves by the 7 Rotary Clubs in the state to step into the ugly situation without meaningful attention in the last 8 years of the past administration.
“As the President of Presidents of the 7 Rotary Clubs on the Plateau, we are thinking of how we can put resources out of the 7 Clubs and then we go back to that place and renovates the place for it to have a semblance of life. It needs repainting, it needs restructuring, it needs a lot of things,” he emotionally stated.
The Director PHC Jos North LGA represented by the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Mrs. Deborah David Madugu said the gesture has indeed closed some of the gaps in the Primary Healthcare Centre Utan which is still left behind.
“The truth is that the health sector in the country in general has its own challenges just as you can see. Even though the government has awoken because of the basic Healthcare Provision Fund that is now put in place but is not all the facilities that are benefiting.
“You can see for yourself, there are still gaps, there are still needs expected at the Primary Healthcare Centres. The PHC is the first level of contact of every person in a community for the poor, the rich and those that can not afford medical bills are always found at the Primary Healthcare Centres,” she reiterated
Madugu noted that the gesture by the Rotary Club of Jos Central is a commendable one. “the work of Rotary can not be over-emphasized because your impact is always felt at the local government level most especially here in Jos North local government.
“I want to assure you that the donated equipment will be judiciously put into use and is going to be captured in the list of inventories in the Centre in line with the accountability framework of the Primary Healthcare System for their safety.”
The Director PHC, Jos South LGA Mrs Tani Gwamji also at the PHC Rantiya earlier thanked the Rotary Club of Jos Central for stepping in with various interventions to Health Care facilities in the local government Area of the State, and appealed for more support especially in the area of stable water for the effective running of the PHC.
“We want to thank Rotary for supporting Jos South local government area in many ways, the last outreach at the PHC Rantiya was massive because so many people from the community benefited
“We are so grateful for this support of medical equipment, partnering with health is good. Here in the community we are battling with the problem of water, here in this clinic there’s a steady source of water and for us to perform fully we need water to maintain the cleanliness of this Heath facility. We are appealing if we can get any intervention in this area. We know that Rotary has a large heart for health.” she stated.
The Club were also at the Peace Orientation and Conference Centre of the Justice Peace and Reconciliation Movement (JPRM) in Jos where they planted 200 assorted species of trees ranging from “windbreakers, fruits trees like mangoes, guava, olive trees, cashews,” and medicinal trees such “nimtrees, goron-tula, and some berry trees.
Fasua maintained that the intervention is part of their commitment to fighting against global warming and desertification in the State. As it falls under the 7 operational areas of Rotary.
The President of Justice Peace and Reconciliation Movement (JPRM) Dr. Habila M. Ignatius expressed gratitude for the contributions of the Club to the Centre in the areas of afforestation and pledged to take good care of the trees for the common good of humanity who will henceforth come to the Centre and the environment at large.
Some of the items donated to the Primary Healthcare at PHC Rantiya, PHC Township, and PHC Utan each consist of “Nebulizers, BP Apparatuses, HIV Testing kits, Mosquito Nets”, among others.
