A coalition of civil society organisations, under the Global-funded (RSSH C19-RM), has called for greater community engagement with pertinent entities to bridge the gaps in primary health care access in Nigerian communities.
They stated that cooperation is essential to developing a sustainable plan to address access and health equity gaps, which highlight differences in health outcomes caused by social, economic, and environmental variables, especially in rural areas.
Speaking at a media roundtable on the Resilient System for Sustainable Health Development/COVID-19 Response Mechanism (RSSH C19-RM) project in Ibadan, Oyo State, Mr Oluseun Adebiyi, its State Programme Officer for Oyo State, said engaging with community stakeholders will ensure effective use and community ownership of PHCs across the country.
Adebiyi said this is evident from the RSSH C19-RM project in Oyo State and 17 other states in Nigeria that had achieved many successes in revitalising healthcare services through community engagement in many PHCs.
The RSSH C19-RM project has been implemented by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), utilising a combination of networks including the Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), the Civil Society for Malaria Control, Immunisation, and Nutrition (ACOMIN), and TB networks, with NEWPHAN taking the lead among other community-based organisations (CBOs).
Mr Adebiyi, in the scorecard of the projected for the past 6 months, mentioned interventions by the CBOs ensuring the provision of water, drive-way, refuse disposal facilities, security, hospital consumables, generation of funds for renovation, and lighting, among others.
“Ray of Hope Community Foundation, the community-based organisation working in Oyo East, was able to increase demand creation for Agoye PHC through engagement of the Agboye Community stakeholders. Redeemers Aid Initiative for People and Communities, working with the stakeholders of the Gangansi community, generated funds for renovating the building of Gangansi PHC.
“Community Health Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation CHEPA were able to engage the community, which also led to the concreting of the Kumapayi Driveway with a sum of N365, 000 to facilitate emergency patients having quick access to the PHC, he said.”
Mr Adebiyi, therefore, urged the Federal government to further engage communities in any solution it might have in mind for PHCs in Nigeria and also the Oyo State government to consider for employment all ad hoc staff of PHCs in its ongoing recruitment of health workers.
NEPWHAN’s State Coordinator, Mr Faith Olawale, in his remarks called for the rehabilitation of dilapidated PHC buildings and the provision of adequate security and drugs in PHCs across the country while urging for more support to ensure primary healthcare services thrive, particularly in underserved communities.
Read Also: Onifiditi gets staff of office
