Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Heinrich Boell Foundation has expressed concerns about the worsening situation of Primary Health Care (PHC) centres in Nigeria, which has been worsened by poor power supply to the hospitals.
It revealed that 48 percent of PHCs rely on power generators which cost between N20,000 and N29,000 monthly to fuel, aside other maintenance.
The Foundation lamented that such reliance on power generating sets has exposed the PHCs to unhealthy and unconducive environment, as well as acute respiratory illnesses that come from air pollutions.
The Lead Researcher at Access to Energy, Tsema Yuonne Ene-Okoye, who spoke in Abuja, at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by Heinrich Boell Foundation, to drive access to reliable electricity for PHCs, said that electricity supply is critical for healthcare delivery particularly at PHCs.
She stated that most untimely deaths recorded at PHCs are largely caused by lack of power. She predicted that more avoidable deaths could be recorded if efforts are not made to improve the situation.
The acting Chairman Fiscal Responsibilty Commission, Victor Muruako, explained that PHCs are in the rural areas and should be better handled by local government authorities, hence the need for their autonomy.
He said: “Interim local government administration is another way which the state governments have chosen to continuously have access to the funds of the local government which is not constitutional.
“They recruit doctors who will work in these local governments but they would not agree to stay in those villages.”