Benue State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Yanmar Ortese, has bemoaned the dilapidated state of Primary Health Care Cenres (PHCs) in the state.
Ortese told The Guardian in Makurdi that when he came on board less than one year ago, he took a tour of the PHCs and was shocked to discover that some of them did not even have a single bed.
The commissioner, who lamented that the rot in the PHCs was inherited from the precious administration, stated the current government had taken urgent steps to salvage the situation.
He said PHCs, which are meant to cater for pregnant women and nursing mothers, were so neglected to the point that most women avoided them.
“The primary target of a PHC is for child mortality. Level 2 PHC should have at least six to eight staff, birth attendants, good consultation rooms with all facilities, quarters for staff, immunisation centre, as well as good lighting and water systems. No PHC in Benue State has achieved that,” Ortese stated.
The commissioner who took over the health ministry 10 months ago, further explained: “When we discovered that we have inherited a really dilapidated PHC system, we set about putting in place measures to reverse the situation.”
As we speak, the disbursement of funds to all the PHCs through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund is ongoing. The Alia administration is only one year in office. By the second year of this administration, you would be proud of what you will see. I invite you to come back again and see for yourself.”
