Accord PHC development same support as COVID-19 —Expert

A public health physician, Dr David Adewole, has scored Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 pandemic highly, but asks that the same response be accorded primary health care services and investment in health human development to ensure that Nigeria can attain universal health for all.

Dr Adewole spoke at the February 2021, Continue Medical Education series of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) with the theme ‘Health System Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria: What lessons have we learnt?’

He stated that such a similar response from various bodies and organization to mitigate the pandemic would ensure that the building blocks of the primary health care system are strengthened to be able to decongest the tertiary and secondary health care levels while helping to meet the health needs of Nigerians.

Dr Adewole, who noted that the effect of the pandemic is felt most in the health sector, declared that the pandemic made Nigeria’s weak health system more glaring to a greater number of people who before the pandemic sought health care services outside the country.

The public health expert said Nigerian’s trust in the primary health care services are low and tackling this barrier to health services, including funding, human resources and service delivery will entail an increased involvement and contribution from other sectors of the economy.

He adds: “The health system does not work in isolation; if there is good trust among the people across all the sectors, the health policy that is being implemented will be largely successful.

“But we will advocate is that the same way they had responded to COVID-19, the same way they should respond to strengthen the bigger health sector, especially the primary health care facilities and training health personnel.”

Earlier, former Health Minister Professor Isaac Adewole had stated that in 2017, a joint external assessment of Nigeria’s preparedness for pandemic had scored Nigeria 39 per cent before COVID-19 started, an indication that Nigeria was not ready system-wise.

According to him, “we mapped out what we call the public health emergency response to that pandemic which was yet to come; we cost all that is needed to be done. Unfortunately, we could not do much and therefore we caught napping. The saving grace is that we were not hard hit as in Europe and America.”

Professor Adewole, however, urged NMA to be in the vanguard for improved health care financing in Nigeria and should play an active role at various stages of health policy implementation in the country while ensuring that all political parties implement their  health programmes after they are given the mandate.

—Sade Oguntola

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