Dr Chioma Ezenyimulu, Executive Secretary, Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ASPHCDA), on Friday urged communities in the state to take responsibility for their Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).Ezenyimulu made the call when she received a delegation from Civil Society Network, Anambra State Chapter, in her office in Awka on Friday.
The team was led by Mr Chris Azor.The executive secretary also urged the communities to support the agency’s efforts in developing PHCs.According to the her, community ownership and support was necessary for effective primary healthcare delivery.The executive secretary said that the state government would renovate the 332 PHCs in the state with the recent approval of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).“The BHCPF is a percent of the consolidated revenue of the federation mapped out for development of PHCs across the country.“Anambra initially got approval for 176 PHCs and, having applied the funds judiciously, approval has been given for the remaining 156 facilities.” This project is to ensure that every ward in the state has a functional PHC, especially in terms of drug availability, ”
she said.Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Chris Azor, said that many PHCs in the state did not have adequate health workers.According to him, the situation is putting secondary and tertiary health institutions in the state under pressure.“We visited PHCs recently and discovered that there is acute shortage of healthcare personnel to deliver services.“We are appealing for recruitment of more healthcare workers.“The Civil Society Network is ready to partner with the state government to ensure efficiency in delivering quality healthcare at the grassroots, ” he said. (NAN)
