PHC Management Board Pledges Service Delivery In Rivers

The Primary Healthcare Management Board in Rivers State has pledged to make primary healthcare progrmme succeed  in the scheme of healthcare delivery in the state.

Chairman of the newly constituted board, who was former Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Dr Uriah Etawo, stated this shortly after the inauguration of the board at government house, Port Harcourt.

Dr Etawo  promised that the board would lay emphasis on making Primary Healthcare a strong base for health care delivery services in the state.

He further disclosed that members of the board would embark on a massive education of the populace on the benefits of Primary Health Centres.

He expressed displeasure that Primary Health Centres were being neglected in preference for tertiacy health institutions.

“We are going to set up our house in order, then we would go into educating the populace. If you have uncomplicated malaria you should attend the Primary Health Centre, you don’t have to travel all the way to Port Harcourt to receive medical attention; he said.

He continued, “we have to rebuild the confidence of the populace on HPC and if we can correct this, it means that we have gone a long way to correcting what is happening now.”

He further said the board would focus also on gathering health statistics of the people of the state in order to adequately plan for them.

According to him “the state governor Rt Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has shown interest in knowing the infant mortality  are maternal mortality rates  in the state stressing that the statistics “we’re going to gather for these PHCs are what we will use”, adding that a death registry would also be introduced in the state.