FG Doubles Functional Primary Healthcare Facilities To Over 16,000

The federal government has disclosed that the number of functional primary healthcare facilities across Nigeria has increased from more than 8,000 to over 16,000, in a major expansion of access to healthcare services at the grassroots.

The director and head of health planning, research and statistics at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr John Ovuoraye, disclosed this at the National Consultation on Advancing Nigeria’s Community Health Workforce Agenda, convened by CARE International in Nigeria and other development partners.

Ovuoraye said the expansion was part of efforts by the government to strengthen primary healthcare delivery and ensure that more Nigerians, particularly those in communities, could access essential health services.

He, however, stressed that the expansion of facilities must be matched with adequate investment in the health workforce, particularly community-based health workers who provide services closest to the people.

Ovuoraye further said the government was committed to strengthening the workforce required to provide quality healthcare services to Nigerians, but noted that insecurity and the migration of trained health professionals were putting pressure on the available workforce.

“Our human workforce in the country is reducing; the trained specialists are leaving the country. Insecurity is also a challenge to community-level healthcare delivery because some health posts have been shut down because of insecurity,” he said.

Also speaking, the country director of CARE International in Nigeria, Dr Hussaini Abdu said the expansion of primary healthcare infrastructure must be supported by improved welfare and professional development for community health workers.

Abdu said community health workers had for decades provided critical services to mothers, children and families, but continued to face limited recognition, inconsistent remuneration, fragmented supervision and uncertain career pathways.

He described the community health workforce agenda as under-financed and under-institutionalised, calling for collective ownership of efforts to strengthen the sector.

“The challenges facing our community health workforce cannot be solved by government alone, donors alone, implementing partners alone, or communities alone,” he said.

Also speaking, CARE International in Nigeria’s Health Sector Lead, Dr Amina Abdullahi described community health workers as an important link between communities and the formal health system, particularly for women and girls.

She called for sustained investment in their training, equipment and skills to enable them to provide quality healthcare services.

“What we want to see is a community health workforce, primarily community-based health workers being fully supported with the training that they need, with the equipment that they need, with the skills that they need,” Abdullahi said.