Nigeria Health Watch, a pro-health platform during its recent visit to Gbako, Kontagora and Mashegu Local Government Areas of Niger State, has revealed the deteriorating state of health centres in the councils.
The medium, however, pleaded with the state government to ease the hardship faced by its citizens by revamping the centres.
In Tiwugi Clinic under Gbako LGA, the platform reported that the centre which is being manned by a single staff is in a deplorable situation.
“I’m the only staff in this healthcare centre,” Abdullahi Haruna, in charge of the facility affirmed. “I attend cases like immunization, antenatal, tuberculosis and also child delivery. I also do other domestic works such as clearing bushes around the facility and general sanitation.”
“The facility does not have a source of water, drugs and beds where we will attend to patients,” Haruna added. “Let the government come to our aid by providing us with additional medical and casual staff in order to put the facility in a better position in order to ease people’s suffering.”
“The community members’ lives are in jeopardy as their only health facility has just one health worker and lacks critical medical equipment, such as essential drugs, a source of water, a functional toilet, beds, and a delivery couch,” the medium tweeted.
MASHEGU LGA
In another health centre at Babban Rami, a suburb of Mashegu LGA, the facility does not have a delivery room and source of water, Nigeria Health Watch revealed.
But with the help of Basic Healthcare Provision Funds (BHCPF), the facility was able to create a toilet and labour room in one of the wards, according to Mohammed Bello, in charge of the facility.
“Incharge office is where we use to prescribe drugs for patients and to also use as a laboratory,” he said. “We also use some of the funds we get from BHCPF to cater for some of our challenges.”
Bello, therefore, urged the government to do more by pumping more money into the running of the facility to make it more functional.
KONTAGORA
Similarly, the healthcare centre in Dappo community, Kontagora LGA shared the same story with other facilities visited.
According to the medium, the facility is in shambles as it could not meet the basic health needs of the community.
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The facility lacks adequate manpower, which affects optimal healthcare delivery, WikkiTimes learnt. Zakiyya Aliyu, the health worker in charge of the facility lamented the lack of a labour room and laboratory.
“Even essential drugs we don’t have. We don’t receive them and sometimes the clients must go to other towns to buy medications,” she said, adding that the facility also has no functional toilet and no source of clean water. As such, health workers and patients depend on the goodwill of neighbours willing to share their toilet facilities.
