By Asmau Ahmad
The Federal Government of Nigeria said measures have been put in place to make Primary Health Care Centres in rural areas attractive for health workers.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said this in Abuja, during the World Health Day, and as the World Health Organisation (WHO) turns 75 years.
The theme of the 2023 World Health Day is “Health for All –Strengthening PHC to Build Resilient Systems”, while the theme of the World Health Workers Week is “Investing in the Health Work Force.”
Dr Ehanire noted that health workers prefer to practice in cities, thereby depleting manpower in healthcare facilities in rural areas.
He said, “Government is trying to make rural PHCs more attractive, as plans have been put in place to build staff quarters to address accommodation problems.
“The lack of staff quarters has been a problem because health workers don’t have a place to stay when sent to rural areas.
“We will ensure the provision of water, electricity or solar energy so that there will be light in these centres for better performance and to encourage health workers to stay in the rural areas.
“We are also making provision for ambulances that will make transportation easy for patients and health workers.”
According to him, another incentive from the government is to focus on particular health workers specialised in a particular area.
The health minister said that the Federal Government had urged state and local governments to establish schools of health technology where rural health workers would be trained.
He explained that the workers would be trained in local languages to enable them to communicate easily with the rural citizens.
According to him, government had also encouraged the state and local governments to nominate health workers from their communities to be trained for better understanding and improved communication.
The minister said the government was planning to make use of digital technology to make communication easier for medical personnel and patients to enhance better outcome.
“We hope that all our measures will encourage the state and local governments to prioritise employment and payment of rural health workers, especially the PHC workers. This is because PHCs are under the payroll of state and local governments,” Ehanire added.
He revealed that the federal government, in a bid to reverse poor health indices and provide Universal Health Coverage, initiated the revitalisation of about 10,000 PHCs nationwide, adding that more than 4,000 PHCs have so far been worked on to ensure quality services.
Ehanire noted that steps taken have improved PHC services in the country and reduced challenges women face during childbirth and as well as addressed home emergencies.
According to him, immunisation has recorded significant improvement from 33 per cent in 2016 to 57 per cent in 2021 in spite of COVID-19 pandemic distractions.
He said that the 2022/23 Supplemental Immunisation Activities were integrated into other PHC services under the motto: “One Country, One Team, One Plan, One Budget.”
