Residents of Nasarawa and Kogi States have called on their state governments to prioritise the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) service delivery.
Mrs Juliana Oka, a mother and resident in Koroduma, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa state, said the PHC in Koroduma was functional, but more health workers were needed to serve people.
“The staff are always overwhelmed, especially during immunisation and antenatal sessions,” she said.
In Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State, Hajiya Maimuna Aliyu and Mrs Rekiya Shuaibu, both nursing mothers, said they and their families access health services at the Sabon-pegi PHCs
They appealed to the state to employ more health workers in the area.
Similarly, Mr Emmanuel Yohanna, a casual health worker at PHC, Akalekwu, and Madam Helen Douglas, another casual worker at PHC Akunza Migili, all in Obi Local Government Area of the state, also narrated of inadequate manpower.
Yohanna noted that only two of them work in the facility and they work throughout the day, including weekends, which he said was stressful.
Douglas, on her part, said that apart from the understaffing of PHCs, some residents preferred alternative medication for treatment of their ailments in the rural community due to the harsh economic realities.
Dr Stephen Sasetu, the Director, Research and Statistics, Nasarawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NSPHCDA), said that the challenges facing primary healthcare delivery were surmountable.
He attributed the challenge of understaffing PHCs to the growing population in the state, noting that there were no fewer than 780 functional PHCs in the state, offering healthcare services at different levels.
“We have Primary Health Posts which cater to about 500 patients, Primary Health Clinics handle 2,000 patients, while the Primary Health Centre are designed to serve about 12,000 residents,” he said.
From Kogi, Dr Ibrahim Nasiru, a Lecturer with the Department of Political Science, Prince Abubakar Audu University (PAAU), Anyigba, expressed worry over their condition and services, saying “It is very pathetic in the sense that what the people expect from the government is not what they are getting”.
“Despite government’s huge investments and what the partners, like World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, UNICEF and others are putting up, the people don’t feel much of its impact.
“Other major challenges that occasion the PHC services included lack of roads, water and electricity. These are hampering the accessibility of some of these facilities in the rural areas.
“In some of the PHCs, there are no enough equipment or facilities to do simple malaria or typhoid tests. Most times you see people going far outside the immediate communities to carry out such tests. So there’s a lot to be done.
“In fact, that’s the more reason why the mortality rate is very high, particularly the childbirth mortality rate in the rural areas. This is supposed to be the responsibility of these PHCs to control,” he said.
Nasiru stressed that health workers must be motivated to work through the provision of good salaries and other welfare packages.
“I am of the belief that with such pragmatic steps, there will be an improvement in the PHC services, which will go a long way in attracting more patronage from the people,” the lecturer noted.
However, Dr Abubakar Yakubu, the Executive Director, Kogi Primary Health Care Development Agency (KPHCDA), disclosed that there are 838 PHCs operating across the 21 local government areas of the state as of 2018, based on the facility assessment conducted by the agency.
The director said that because the government wanted the PHCs to serve the people of the rural areas effectively, it has given them a very robust investment in recent times through support from partners and from the state through the Healthcare Provision Fund.
“On their operations, immunisation, intrusion and maternal and child health, social mobilisation and health education are the primary work they do.
“When we carried out the survey in 2018, over 70 per cent of the facilitates were functional and had the capacity to manage patients. Graciously, these facilities have recently been upgraded.
“So, we try hard to ensure that the facilities are located within the dense communities. Their accessibility is key just as the health care workers even though we have problems with human resources, which is a challenge for the smooth running of the PHCs.
He said the Kogi State government has recently employed over 80 community health workers and midwives in order to augment the already existing health personnel.
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“Primarily PHCs are supposed to be run by these personnel but in the high volume areas, doctors might be required because anything above the community health workers and midwives are to be referred to the doctors within the vicinity as quickly as possible.
“Funding is another challenge but it is because of that that the PHCDAF is helping in earmarking funds to us to see how the PHCs could be revitalised to bring them to a good level that anybody could access healthcare services.
“The good news is that the federal government is planning to increase that fund within the shortest possible time. This PHCDAF fund that I talked about is to help us equip the PHCs with facilities and drugs for effective service delivery.
“Part of the fund is meant to procure drugs for the use of the PHCs. The state government has always ensured that there are drugs available to be dispensed to the patients.
“We believe that with this ongoing effort, it will go down well to solve some of the challenges being faced by PHCs across the state,” Yakubu said.
