The Epidemiological Society of Nigeria (EPISON) has blamed poor implementation of Primary Health Cares (PHCs) since after the establishment of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) as being responsible for about 80% deaths in rural communities across Nigeria.
The Society made the claim through Dr. Tolu Fakeye during the 8th Annual Scientific Conference of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria supported by the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, PACFaH@Scale in Jos, the Plateau State Capital.
Fakeye in a paper titled: “A Scooping Mission on Primary Health Care Under One Roof in Nigeria,” also said when federal government introduced National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), implementation of PHCs was 82% but now, due to poor handling, less than 50% implementation is now being recorded.
He lamented that all the states in the country were facing shortage of skilled health personnel for the delivery of PHCs, which is leading to about 80% of deaths that occurred in most rural parts of Nigeria.
According to him, “When primary health care started in Nigeria, many African countries did come to learn how the services are done, but due to poor implementation of policies, Nigerian performance declined.”
In his remarks, Chairman of the Conference, Prof. Micheal Asuzu recommended that for PHC to be better, there was a need to intensify advocacy to local government councils, training of PHCs workers and expansion of technical assistance to enhance capacity of the PHC workers.
He also called for increased funding for PHCs.
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