The residents of Kuje have, on many occasions, expressed concern about what they describe as poor healthcare system that has been the residents’ major challenge.
Most of them call on stakeholders in health sector to raise the hope of the residents in 2018 by ensuring robust healthcare service delivery.
They identified poor access road network, under equipped primary healthcare centres and overstretching of medical equipment at hospitals located in the community as some of the challenges hindering proper healthcare services.
Others explained that the community dwellers mostly travelled long distances just to access basic healthcare services at better equipped hospitals located in other neighbouring communities.
Some residents, health workers and ante-natal patients, also called for improvement in the healthcare delivery in the community.
They, nonetheless, commended the intervention of non-governmental organisations that they claimed to have been providing free medical services and training for health workers in the community.
Mr Abraham Isa, a resident of the community, observed that Rije community that is five-kilometre distance from the council headquarters had a dilapidated primary healthcare centre.
He blamed the government for neglecting the facilities in the healthcare centre for so long a time.
“The journey to Kuje General Hospital is dangerous and the road is so bad that during the rainy season they are almost unusable.
“The issue of healthcare centres has been bordering us in this community for a very long time. I am pleading with the council to come to our aid and improve the primary health centre in the area,’’ he said.
Recently, Mr Haruna Agwai, the Health Care Coordinator of the Council, said inadequate vaccines, bad roads even affected immunisation in the area.
He said in spite of the challenges, the health workers vaccinated children of zero month to 59 months against oral polio vaccines and children from one year to 29 years against meningitis.
He also said more than 7,763 children were immunised against these diseases out of more than 17,000 children population in the area council.
“We area vaccinating the children and taking precautions against the outbreak of meningitis in some parts of the country as well.
In spite of these challenges, the health workers vaccinated children against meningitis and oral polio vaccines,’’ Agwai said.
He urged the government to collaborate with the private sectors on funding to improve the healthcare system in the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He said the private sector had a major role to play in driving and improving healthcare services in FCT.
Mrs AJara Sani, an ante-natal patient in Kuje General Hospital, said high cost of child’s delivery and attitude of health personnel were some of the challenges facing healthcare delivery.
“The cost of child’s delivery and access to drugs is very high, especially when you are to be operated to be delivered of a baby.
“Some women even give birth on their way before they get to the general hospital due to bad road,’’ she said, calling the government to subsidise the cost of healthcare services in the area.
To address some of the challenges, Women Friendly Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, said it had recently trained health workers for comprehensive sexual reproductive health services in the area.
Dr Francis Eremutha, Chief Executive Officer of the organisation, said the training was aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the area.
According to him, it will also check life-threatening complications arising from pregnancy.
He said the training emphasised, among others, the benefits of contraception, ante-natal attendance, supervised delivery, infection prevention and immunisation services for mother and child.
“Women and girls face enormous challenges in accessing services, especially in relation to sexual and reproductive health for fear of condemnation.
“They also face stigmatisation by the society and the negative attitude of some health workers, ’’ he observed.
He also said the training would help in deepening and sustaining community health-provider’s adherence to guidelines and standards of practice.
Apart from this, he said the training would facilitate supervision and routine monitoring of trained providers and health facilities.
“We aim to strengthen local institutions, structures and entities that enhance communities’ health. We are also building the capacity of health service providers for quality comprehensive sexual reproductive health services,’’ he said.
He, therefore, called on ministries of health and relevant bodies to equip primary health centres with medical equipment.
However, Mr Abdullahi Galadima, Chairman, Kuje Area Council, said the challenges of healthcare delivery were inherited by his administration but promised that measures had been put in place to tackle them.
“We are aware that most of the primary healthcare centres are dilapidated and some are out of drugs. I want to assure the people of Kuje Area Council that we are moving on and certainly, will be paying attention to health facilities,’’ he promised.
Galadima further called on residents to be patient as efforts were ongoing to resolve some of the problems facing the healthcare system in the community.
All in all, residents of the community insist that concerned authorities ought to make pragmatic efforts at making healthcare delivery service worthwhile in all its 10 electoral wards to ease their sufferings on health issues.
- Tadanyigbe is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
