‘Nigeria Strengthening PHCs To Attain Universal Health Coverage’ 

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, says Nigeria is aggresively addressing challenges affecting the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Shauib said, Wednesday, in Abuja that the agency would strengthen the capacities of Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) in addressing the challenges.
He added that part of the effort was through innovative Community-based Health Research, Innovative-training and Services Program (CRISP), to be launched on May 22.
The Tide’s source reports that the agency had identified inadequate skilled manpower as a major challenge affecting primary healthcare delivery in the country.
In 2019, the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency to reduce the number of mothers and children dying every day in the country.
In this respect, the NPHCDA set up the National Emergency Maternal and Child Health Intervention Centre to provide oversight on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health plus nutrition in Nigeria.
Through this centre, the agency has been coordinating a set of related high-impact interventions nationwide to reduce preventable maternal and under-5 mortalities.
One of such interventions was the provision of skilled health workers in PHC facilities, which was critical to curbing maternal, perinatal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Shaiub said the NPHCDA had also articulated a 4-point agenda for the repositioning of the PHCs to ensure the attainment of UHC.
“As part of this agenda, the country discussed the need to close the gaps in the adequacy and distribution of human resources for health at the primary healthcare level.
“To be guided by evidence, they followed this with a national health facility assessment in 2022.
“Findings from the assessment revealed that only 1.8 per cent (463 out of 25,843) Primary Health Care facilities in the country have the minimum number of required Skilled Birth Attendants (SBA), which is four per facility.
“Aside from gross inadequacy, there is the problem of unequal distribution of available SBAs in the PHC facilities across the country”, he stated.
Shuaib, therefore, said CRISP would be implemented in partnership with Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres, NPHCDA, State Primary Health Care Boards, Local Government Health Authorities and the communities to support primary healthcare development.
philanthropists, among others”, he added.

According to the NPHCDA boss, the health and well-being of Nigerians will continue to remain government’s top priority.