Minister promises to lift primary care

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has assured that the Federal Ministery of Health would put the Primary Health Care (PHC) service at the front burner of its agenda, so as to make health care delivery available, affordable and accessible.

Speaking at the 1st annual Primary Health Care (PHC) service lecture, with the theme, ‘ Primary Health Care in Nigeria: Realities, Challenges and the way Forward”, in Abuja, yesterday, Adewole said that PHC would be the prime focus of the ministry, adding, “ Every average Nigerian would be put in the front burner of the ministry’s agenda and the health of the poor Nigerians would be put into consideration.”

According to the minister, the ultimate goal of the ministry is to build a vibrant Primary Health Care, to make it work and available, adding that the public-private partnership would be harnessed.

He said: “More attention would be put on malaria, diarrhoea, maternal health care and HIV, as the Primary Health Care would be of standard. The lives of every Nigerian counts either alive or dead that’s why we will be partnering more with the private sectors to deliver health care at the primary level.”

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Muhammad, appealed to the minister to restructure and build a resilient Primary Health Care system based on what he described as a ‘ one road map’, in order to improve the health outcomes of all persons in Nigeria and also reduce the pressure on the secondary and tertiary level of care.

It is our earnest desire to crystallize our current effort at revitalizing PHC and evolve one road map, to be jointly owned and implemented by all stakeholders under the leadership of the Minister of Health.

This resolve is further reinforced by our recent success particularly in polio, which has significantly re-energized the Primary Health Care (PHC) sub-sector with renewed commitment to function optimally considering the positive impact of the polio infrastructure on the health system.”