Many Nigerians still face barriers to services in health facilities, says WHO

World Health Organisation (WHO) has said many Nigerians still face lots of barriers in accessing services in conventional hospitals and health facilities.

It, therefore, called for effective implementation of the self-care policy launched by the organisation in 2019 and adopted by Nigeria.

According to WHO, the policy will help the Federal Government put in place measures to mitigate effect of disruption to services, as witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO Technical Officer, Human Resources for Health and Self-Care Interventions, Olumuyiwa Ojo, stated this at a National Stakeholders’ Meeting to Review Self-Care Indicator Framework in Abuja, yesterday.

He explained that self-care is the ability of people to undertake health services, especially what they can do to stay well, avoid being sick, and treat themselves.

Ojo said what has happened in the past was self-medication, where people treat themselves with medicines that are not allowed by the policy. But through the self-care policy, measures have been put in place to show that certain interventions, commodities and drugs are available over the counter, with the support of trained health workers.

He said: “Specifically, there are some interventions that people can use by themselves. We have the ones for non-communicable diseases. As we speak, you can measure your blood pressure by yourself. There are people who are insulin-dependent who have diabetes and have to inject themselves. But this particular guideline is talking about family planning products, like the self-injection DMPA-SC, and over-the-counter contraceptives.”

Also speaking, John Snow Incorporated (JSI) In-Country Lead for Self-Care Accelerator Project (S-CAP), Miranda Buba Atere, noted that Nigerians had always embraced the national self-care guidelines for sexual reproduction and maternal health but there is need to ensure they do it safely.