Aliyu Abubakar was standing near the reception area inside Kawu primary healthcare centre with a calm demeanour. Baba, as Abubakar is popularly called, wore a purple checkered shirt that looked like it had survived through many wears. In his mid-60s, he still looks agile.
With a pair of glasses dangling from his neck, one could assume that the man was a patient’s family member or perhaps one himself.
Although located at the centre of the community for easy access, the situation at the health facility is nothing but a cry for help. The official said patients are often referred to the general hospital, as the facility lacks the resources to meet their needs. She said one of the major challenges currently facing the health centre is that it is no longer capable to cater for the area since the population has increased.It was December 2019. People around the world went about their activities without an inkling of the unwelcome disruption that was about to take place — in Wuhan, China, the authorities were battling cases of “pneumonia with unknown causes” that would go on to change the world.
So far, over 266,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths have been recorded in the country — Lagos, the federal capital territory , and Rivers state top the list. “When the next pandemic comes, the world must be ready, more ready than it was this time. Public health is the foundation of social, economic and political stability. That means investing in population-based services for preventing, detecting and responding to diseases,” he said.Located in Egbiri, one of the communities in Ayobo, a suburb town in Lagos state, Ayobo Primary Health Centre serves as the only health facility for its residents.
The health worker also disclosed that with only four health workers in the centre and six volunteers, the PHC only does “minor treatments and tests for malaria”. Adeyinka said the facility is currently giving out COVID-19 vaccines and other vaccines to residents of the community as part of the effort to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 and other ailments.
A female health worker, Madam Roseline, said those at the managerial level receive drugs and send them to the health centre. Glory said while one is usually berated for not seeking proper medical care, “when you go there, you don’t get satisfactory services.” According to the World Health Organisation , primary healthcare is critical to make health systems more resilient to situations of crisis, more proactive in detecting early signs of epidemics and more prepared to act early in response to surges in demand for services.
In accordance with the act, the BHCPF is drawn from an annual grant from the federal government, of not less than one per cent of the consolidated revenue fund , grants by international donor partners and funds from any other source, inclusive of the private sector. He said a significant portion of state funds allocated to health is primarily utilised to cover the salaries of healthcare workers, leaving little left for operational costs and capital projects which might be used to improve the state of the primary health facilities.
“Because the legacy issues of the poor state of health facilities have been on for a very long time. Even if you give them this operating budget, support, it’s probably not sufficient,” he said. Ifeanyi Nsofor, global health expert and senior new voices fellow at Aspen Institute, believes there is a disparity between primary healthcare in urban and rural areas due to poor governance that exists as you move farther away from the capital.
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