Officials in the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have attributed the low patronage of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) to a combination of insufficient manpower, inadequate availability of drugs, and the local community’s preference for traditional medicines. These challenges have been cited as key obstacles to the effective delivery of healthcare services in the area.
\nThe officials made these remarks during an advocacy visit by members of the COVID-19 Response Mechanism Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (C19RM\/RSSH) Global Fund Project Advocacy Team (SAT) in Abuja. The C19RM\/RSSH project is being implemented by a coalition of civil society organizations, including the Civil Society for the Eradication of Tuberculosis in Nigeria (TB Network), the Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), and the Civil Society in Malaria Control, Immunisation, and Nutrition (ACOMIN).
\nJibrin Kamadi, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Kwali Area Council, highlighted the severe manpower shortage facing the healthcare system in the area. According to him, this challenge is reflective of the national healthcare situation but is particularly dire in Kwali.
\n“Inadequate manpower in the health sector is a national issue, but in Kwali, we are severely short-staffed,” Kamadi stated. He added that despite efforts by the area council’s chairman, Danladi Chiya, to recruit more healthcare workers, the demand for staff still far outweighs the supply.
\nAso Abdullahi, the Logistics Officer for Kwali Area Council, echoed Kamadi’s concerns and noted that these shortages extend beyond personnel to the availability of medications. He explained that the lack of essential drugs at healthcare centres often forces community members to turn to traditional medicines.
\n“Many of our healthcare facilities are often closed due to insufficient manpower and heavy workloads,” Abdullahi said. “This leads to discouragement among patients who need care, and as a result, they turn to local herbal remedies instead of visiting our clinics.”
\nAbdullahi emphasized the need for stronger community sensitisation to help residents understand the benefits of modern healthcare services, especially those offered at the PHCs. He called for an increased effort to educate the public on the advantages of professional medical care over traditional treatments.
\nIn addition to the manpower and medication issues, the C19RM\/RSSH project team also pointed out infrastructure gaps within the healthcare system. Nathaniel Salifu, the FCT Coordinator for the Tuberculosis Network, explained that one of the key objectives of the C19RM\/RSSH project is to address these gaps in a sustainable manner.
\n\u201cThe project aims to build a more resilient and sustainable healthcare system by improving infrastructure and strengthening the capacity of healthcare workers,\u201d Salifu said. He further noted that improving the physical conditions of healthcare facilities would enhance access to quality care for residents.
\nSamuel Simon, the FCT Programme Officer for the TB Network, emphasized the importance of community involvement in ensuring the success of healthcare initiatives. He encouraged local residents to take ownership of their healthcare systems by participating in advocacy efforts and volunteering at local PHCs.
\n\u201cCommunity support and ownership are critical to improving healthcare delivery,\u201d Simon said. \u201cWe need to ensure that the community feels a sense of responsibility for their health centres and actively participates in making them better.\u201d
\nHe also highlighted the role of volunteers in bridging the gap between healthcare workers and the local population, suggesting that well-organized volunteer efforts could help alleviate some of the staffing pressures faced by the PHCs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Officials in the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have attributed the low patronage of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) to a combination of insufficient manpower, inadequate availability of drugs, and the local community’s preference for traditional medicines. These challenges have been cited as key obstacles to the effective delivery of healthcare services […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-52699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52700,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52699\/revisions\/52700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}