In a bid to make primary health care the bedrock of the healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, stakeholders in Lagos State have appealed to the government at all levels to collaborate fully with private health practitioners.
The stakeholders, who appealed in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, also disclosed that collaborative efforts were required to ensure affordable and attractive primary healthcare in the state.
According to the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, the state government has invested time to conduct a needs assessment on the Primary Health Care PHCs infrastructure to provide evidence-based information for improvement.
Abayomi noted that with more than 325 PHCs in Lagos state, the government recognised that functional PHCs were the foundation of a vibrant healthcare system.
He also acknowledged that at least 60 per cent of PHCs in the state are not in a very desirable state.
Abayomi added that the state has blueprints which would serve as the framework to transform all the PHCs.
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“Construction will commence soon, and we believe that over the next three to four years, the PHCs will be transformed,’’ he said.
Similarly, the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners urged the three levels of government to collaborate fully with private health practitioners to further enhance the primary healthcare delivery system.
The National President of the association, Dr Kayode Adesola, who made the call in an interview with NAN in Lagos, noted that the partnership was critical to achieving universal health coverage and improved healthcare service delivery to citizens.
Adesola noted that most primary health centres in the country lacked critical equipment, poor facilities, a shortage of skilled medical personnel, a lack of power supply and ambulance services required to refer emergency cases to the state hospital, among others.
Adesola said the presence of private doctors was visible in all local government areas of the country.
He said they attended to over 70 per cent of the populace, noting that this should be leveraged by the government to bridge the gaps in the PHCs.
Adesola urged the Federal Government to prioritise the health sector, stressing that budget allocation to the sector should be increased to align with the 15 per cent Abuja Declaration to improve the sector.
Also, Alhaji Murisiku Akinsola, an activist, said an existing action plan of facilitating one PHC per ward across the country, should be backed by budgetary provision for such centres, from the local government.
