Health News

Stakeholders call for paradigm shift for profitability of Oyo’s investment in health

STAKEHOLDERS have made a case for a paradigm shift that will ensure that investment of Oyo State in primary healthcare services and development translates to reduction in deaths of mothers and children and increased patronages of primary healthcare centres across the state.

Dr Olugbade Omotajo, secretary of Ido Local Government Health Authority, speaking at a two-day stakeholder’s workshop on the primary healthcare centres in Oyo State, organised by First Health Dynamic Synergy International Limited, said primary healthcare services are still challenged by poor infrastructure, outpatient service utilisation, medicine stock out, among others, despite high health investments by the government.

According to him, “In 2019, some technical partners came up with some investment plans due to different gaps in the primary healthcare system in the state.

“Now, Governor [Seyi] Makinde has started implementing the plan. For instance, a minimum of 221 primary healthcare centres were to be renovated, but he changed it to be 351. Already, 209 facilities have been completed. A physical projection of N8.9 billion was made to boost funding of the PHC system but today, it had received over N13.95 billion, an increment that is over 300 percent.

“So, the question then is with this health sector capitalisation, what have been the returns? Some primary health facilities still lack infrastructures to function optimally and the state’s health indexes, like the infant and maternal mortality rate, are still high.

“Though the situation has improved, it is not to the level we want. So, the basis of the stakeholders’ meeting is to come up with an inclusive decisions and recommendations to ensure a more acceptable and glorifying primary healthcare delivery system.”

The immediate past chairman and special adviser to the governor on Primary Healthcare Board, Honourable Dada Awoleye, said what Oyo needed at the PHC level is affordable and qualitative medical care, adding that for such services to be sustainable, there is the need to pay a bit of a premium.

State coordinator, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr Abel Odaba, said the state of the primary healthcare centres is not encouraging for young corps members and asked the government to sensitise people at the grassroots on the need to sustain and maintain health facilities in the community.

Chief Executive Officer, First Health Dynamic Synergy International Limited, Professor Temitope Alonge, said the evaluation of status of primary healthcare centres with the focus on renovation of infrastructure, provision of electricity and water supply, staffing and availability of medicines was to ensure Governor Makinde can have recommendations to work on to actualise the dream of having a robust PHC centre in the state.

According to him, “this is towards sustainability, because that is the mantra for the Omituntun 2.0 – sustainable development. On the field, some of the observations made couldn’t be submitted as individuals but collectively.

“Some of the PHCs listed for renovation were not renovated; some of those renovated were in the wrong category; in some, renovation had stopped. We also saw an enormous shortage of manpower; there was technically no staff in many of the PHCs.

“But in stemming the tide of maternal mortality and infant mortality rate, we need to go back and upgrade the renovated PHCs. This time, my suggestion is that we upgrade in fragmented modes, say two per local government, to find out if there are flaws and then to avoid repeating the same mistakes in subsequent ones.”

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