PHC, panacea to qualitative health delivery

Kemi Olatunde
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Qualitative health care delivery can only be possible with the availability of a vibrant Primary Health Care.

Executive Secretary, Ondo State Primary Health Development Board, Dr. Francis Akanbiemu disclosed this while delivering a lecture on “state of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Ondo State: framework, achievements and challenges’ during an update training on primary health care for medical officers of health in Ondo recently.

According to him, it is important that people are able to access  quality health care without going through huge health expenditure.

While commending the government of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for giving priority to the people’s health, he emphasized the critical role of PHC in achieving an improved health sector.

Commending Ondo state for being one of the first states to set up the PHC agency, he noted that the state has fully adopted the PHC under one roof initiative of the Federal Government.

He listed some of the achievements to improve the PHC to include; the abiye safe motherhood which has helped to redirect attention on improving maternal and child health saying “it has significantly reduced mortality”, distribution of new equipment, training of all PHC health workers, to revitalize PHC and improve health outcomes and provision of laboratory and medical equipment.

Others include; development of operational guidelines for effective health care services delivery and the development of a web based real time Integrated Supportive Supervision (ISS) with a software(Comcare) that uses GPS which is fully in use among others.

In another lecture by Dr. Akindele Adebiyi on ” the medical officers of health in Nigeria: past, present and the future. Function of the medical officers of health” PHC will work in a state that focuses on its circle of influence.

He explained that it is important for a community health worker to understand the culture of the people in order to be fit to work in the PHC.

Describing medical officers of health as a product of industrial revolution, he stated that they will continue to exist as long as there is inequity.

He said; “the primary work of medical officers of health is to reduce inequity in Nigeria. You are supposed to delegate the task to your supporters so as not to loose control.