By Eunice Orike
Primary healthcare centres across parts of the Federal Capital Territory are struggling with shortages of medical personnel, inadequate equipment, and unreliable electricity and deteriorating facilities, raising concerns over access to maternal healthcare.
Findings from visits to several primary healthcare centres in the territory showed that some facilities are relying heavily on volunteers, while others lack basic amenities needed to attend to patients, particularly pregnant women requiring emergency care.
At Alayita Primary Healthcare Centre in Abuja Municipal Area Council, only seven workers were reportedly on the payroll, with a staff member estimating that about 80 per cent of those working at the facility were volunteers.
The situation has placed additional pressure on the available personnel and resulted in patients waiting for extended periods before receiving attention.
The chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives in the FCT, Jama Medan, said the shortage of health workers remained a major challenge facing primary healthcare delivery in the territory.
Medan said the last recruitment exercise for workers into primary healthcare centres by the FCT Area Councils was conducted in 2008.
He also identified poor roads, insecurity, lack of accommodation and inadequate basic amenities as some of the factors discouraging health workers from accepting postings to hard-to-reach communities.
At Piwoyi PHC along Airport Road, pregnant women were reportedly receiving antenatal care in a facility without reliable electricity and water.
A worker at the centre appealed for electricity or solar power, particularly for night-time deliveries, saying health workers should not have to depend on torchlights when attending to women in labour.
The investigation also found that some facilities had equipment that was either damaged or had remained out of service for months.
At Garki II PHC, a laboratory machine used for culture tests was reportedly not functioning, while residents of Iddo said the deterioration of their health facility had forced some pregnant women to seek care in neighbouring communities.
A resident, Fatima Usman, said she had registered for antenatal care at the Iddo facility but also registered at Wuse General Hospital because of concerns over what could happen if she developed complications.
Residents also complained about damaged roofs, poor roads and deteriorating staff quarters.
The FCT chapter of NANNM said the challenges could undermine efforts to improve maternal healthcare if urgent steps were not taken to provide adequate personnel and basic infrastructure.
The findings come despite ongoing federal efforts to strengthen primary healthcare through funding and workforce development.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency had earlier said the government was targeting the deployment of skilled birth attendants to functional primary healthcare centres.
