Healthcare: Nigerian govt to ensure one fully functional PHC in each senatorial district

The Federal Government plans to make primary healthcare accessible to Nigerians by ensuring at least one fully functional centre to deliver the services in each of the 109 senatorial districts of Nigeria.

The acting Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Emmanuel Odu, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Nigerians have lamented the poor state of primary healthcare centres, PHCs, across the country.

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, confirmed the development to make one in each senatorial district fully functional.

Mr. Adewole said the revitalization of the PHCs was a key component of the Rapid Result Initiatives of the federal government.

“We want to bring healthcare services to the doorsteps of our people and the only way to do that is to deliver health through a network of functional PHCs,” the minister said.

Expatiating on the subject, Mr. Odu said the plan is under a project titled National Primary Healthcare Revitalization Initiative.

“The initiative is that in which the Federal Government, through the NPHCDA, sets out to ensure that at least one primary healthcare centre in each of the districts across the country is made fully functional to deliver a number of services to the people in that ward”, he said.

“We consider that each of the senatorial districts in each of the states of the federation will have one PHC.

“The first phase of the exercise is to ensure that 109 plus one are made functional and the selection process for this phase is to select one primary health care centre in a senatorial district, which means every state of the federation has three in the first batch.

“And the Federal Capital Territory, which has only one senatorial district, has one primary healthcare facility, which is located at Kuchingoro at Gwarimpa ward of FCT”, he said

Mr. Odu said the project on the revitalization of Primary Health Care is part of the present administration’s plans to make primary healthcare accessible to all.

“The plan is to ensure that comprehensive services are delivered by way of the world human health service package.

“The package includes control of communicable diseases, which include malaria, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and immunization in all the locations across the country. Maternal and new born care is also part of the package.

“To ensure that this package works well, adequate human resources are needed to run 24-hour services in those facilities”, Mr. Odu said

He said the state governments is prepared to partner with the agency and ministry to provide the human resources needed for healthcare services.