Oyo assembly summons health commissioner over sorry state of PHCs

Worried by the sorry state of primary health care centres across the state, the Oyo state house of assembly has summoned the state commissioner for health, Dr Bashir Bello and executive secretary of the state Primary Health Care (PHC) Board to its plenary, next Thursday.

Bello is summoned to respond to dilapidation and inadequacies in infrastructural facilities in primary health care centres, high maternal mortality, the vulnerability of residents of the state to contacting diseases.

The leadership of the primary health care board will also be mandated to see an overhaul of central stores of PHCs across the state.

This summons was drawn from a motion on “Need for Community and Health Care Reformation in Oyo state” by Honourable Akintunde Olajide (Lagelu constituency) and Honourable Dele Adeola (Iseyin/Itesiwaju constituency), on Tuesday’s plenary.

Presenting the motion, he described the state of primary health centres (PHCs) across the state as saddening and pathetic.

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Giving an instance of the scenario at Lagelu local government, Olajide said out of 25PHCs in his local government, 19 were partially functioning while six had become moribund.

In the motion, he mentioned that the PHC at Iyana Offa did not have a central store for the preservation of drugs while the general hospital at Iseyin Ado Awaye had no computer system for record-keeping.

Rising to speak, Minority leader of the assembly, Honourable Asimiyu Alarape urged Governor Seyi Makinde to declare a state of emergency in the state health sector.

Quoting the state commissioner of health as describing the situation in the health sector as a disaster, Alarape bemoaned inadequate staff, nonavailability of ambulance and other facilities as bedevilling the sector.

Speaking in a similar fashion, Honourable Saminu Gbadamosi of Saki East/Atisbo constituency bemoaned the state health sector suffered inadequate hands because many who retired from the sector were yet to be replaced.

In his comment, the chief whip, Honourable Hakeem Adedibu and Honourable Jacob Bamigboye of Oriire constituency called for audit and investigation into how local governments utilised funds given to them for the upkeep of primary health centres.

Buttressing this call, majority leader, Honourable Sanjo Adedoyin questioned whether local governments judicially applied the monthly sum of N500,000 given to them for PHCs.

Ruling on the contributions, speaker of the assembly, Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin said the assembly will henceforth do a quarterly audit of the records of local government areas.

This is as he urged the executive arm to embark on surprise visits to primary health centres to ascertain happenings.