Kazeem Biriowo – Abuja
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has lamented that despite huge public and private bodies’ investment in the nation’s healthcare system, only a fraction of the investment goes to Primary Health Care(PHC).
Ehanire while delivering his keynote address in Abuja, at the 1st quarter 2023 Northern Traditional Leaders Council review meeting, also said there was progress in COVID-19 vaccination in the country, however, regretted that there were pockets of not only rejections but also misconceptions about the vaccines being administered.
Ehanire said: “Nigeria heavily invested in healthcare, from Public, private or corporate points of view.
“However, only a fraction was spent on primary health care, PHC, which is actually the nearest and first point of call for healthcare for the people, and where most of the health needs are, with 60 percent of all ailments treatable there.
“We know that the poor health indices in maternal and child mortality and morbidity are generated largely in rural areas with no access to any form of healthcare.
“We need to do more in terms of advocacy to the coming administration and philanthropists to invest in our PHC and for traditional leaders to demand their own standard PHC, one per political ward, from state and local governments or from politicians running for office,” he said.
He explained that the meeting was meant to first of all recognize and thank the traditional rulers for their invaluable support and cooperation the federal government had enjoyed from you them which Is to a large extent the background of government’s achievements, and to make a call for action, to recommit to stopping transmission of all forms of the Polio and other viruses, as well as strengthen the nation’s primary health care system.
He said: “The journey to that goal is long and tedious, such that your dedication to it will as always, be advocacy for the incoming administration
“Over the past decade, we made landmark achievements in eradicating Wild Polio virus and controlling epidemic outbreaks, which are outcomes of the combined efforts of government, development patners and traditional leaders present here today.”
Speaking further, the minister explained, “Routine immunization Is a standard service at PHCs and it is free safe, effective, and available across the country.
“Parents and caregivers need to be mobilised to ensure that children receive the vaccines according to the Nigerian RI schedule.”
Ehanire said so far, “there has been steady progress in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign, noting that “over 66 million persons have been fully vaccinated so far bringing the reach to 57 percent as at February 7th, 2023.”
“Although there ls progress,there are pockets of rejections and misconceptions about the vaccines. This only means that there are persons out there who are aware of how vaccines work, hence the need for us to strengthen our sensitization to our communities until everyone is vaccinated”
Earlier in his remarks, the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, while commending the northern traditional leaders’ significant contributions to eradicating the Wild Polio Virus, said: “we would not have been able to eradicate WPV without the northern traditional leaders’ committee on polio eradication.
“We are making progress, but the progress that we need to make this year is important because while reducing the number of cVDPV2 by over 90 percent, we have to get down to zero. The target for 2023 is not a further reduction but getting it to zero. We know that if there is anywhere that the message will resonate, it has to be in this room because you are the people that will make it happen.
“For the first time in the history of our polio eradication activities around cVDPV2, we were able to achieve 96 percent of the LGAs actually scoring 100 percent in terms of the children that we were able to reach. This has never happened especially when you look at the quantum of LGAs and the difficulties in the area of insecurity that we have seen in some of these areas.
“While this is the first time we have seen this type of coverage, we don’t want it to be the last but we want it to be the standard, that every time we go out there for a campaign, no child should be missed and that is exactly what you did and we got rid of WPV. The cVDPV2 is no different and that is the level of commitment that is required for us to finish the job.”
On his part, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar pledged to continue mobilising every household to demand PHC services, especially vaccines for the children.
Abubakar, who was represented by the Emir of Argungu and Chairman of the NTLC, Sumail’a Mera said the review meetings provide opportunities to discuss scheduled activities for the period and beyond.
“We will also access progress made, and challenges faced, share good practices, and exchange new ideas. It is also an avenue to learn about new programmes and initiatives of our government for the overall development and well-being of our people. We are therefore always happy to attend and contribute our best to the discussions.
“We assure you that we will continue to do our best to ensure that every husband and every mother is mobilized and motivated to demand for PHC services, especially vaccines for their children and family”.
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