Following the deplorable state of some Primary Health Centres in Ogun State, community members have been called on to support the state government in renovating and enhancing healthcare services.
Residents were also encouraged to help alleviate the shortage of health workers by urging their daughters to join the Ogun State School of Nursing’s community midwifery program.
The groups made the call during a health outreach at Ode-Omi in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of State on Tuesday.
The outreach organized by the Wellness Africa Foundation (WAF), LEAP Africa and Nigeria Youth Futures Fund (NYFF) aimed to engage key actors and advocate for the renovation of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) across the state.
They maintained that the government cannot renovate the dilapidated health facilities alone, hence the need for community support.
“We are urging community members to support the health centre through initiatives such as reaching out to indigenous sons and daughters in diaspora for support, encouraging your daughters to enrol for the community midwifery program at the Ogun State School of Nursing to cushion the dearth of health workers.
“We are also calling for community collaboration to gather resources for the health centres”, he added.
In the same vein, Dr. Omotola Akinmolayan, WAF’s Programme Director, while addressing stakeholders at the event argued that it would only take the collective efforts of both the state government and communities in the state to renovate the primary health facilities.
Akinmolayan who highlighted the importance of community involvement in the healthcare initiative said, “The success of this project relies on our collective action. We must work together to ensure that our health centre meets the needs of our community,” she stated.
Speaking with one of the healthcare workers at the PHCs in Ode-Omi community, Jolomi Kehinde stated that the centre is expected to cover over 20 communities but the deplorable state of the health facility has severely limited access to essential healthcare services.
Support government to renovate PHCs – Health advocates to Ogun communities