FG To Revive ,Expand, Upgrade 8,300 Primary Healthcare Centers

The Federal Government has laid down a plan through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to expand the eight thousand three hundred primary healthcare centers to seventeen thousand primary healthcare centers.

The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate made this known in Abuja at the sectoral Ministerial Media Briefing to mark the one-year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu in office.
Professor Pate noted that the seventeen thousand primary healthcare centers would be refurbished and functional to deliver essential services.

”At the primary healthcare level, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, in collaboration with the States, we outlined a plan to revive 8300 primary healthcare centers across the nation to make them fully functional and to expand and upgrade to 17,000 Primary Health Care Centers over the next 3-years.”

Regarding the issue of health workforce enrolment, the minister said the present administration had doubled the enrolment of interns at health schools.

According to the, ” The expansion is to refurbish these centers, equip them, making them fully functional to deliver essential services such as immunization, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services, treatment of non-communicable diseases, and to facilitate referrals to secondary facilities.”

”However, this ambitious plan requires the states to complement the efforts of the federal government, regarding the revitalization of primary health care, which aligns with the President’s directive.” The minister said.

Professor Ali Pate noted that Federal hospitals have successfully executed two hundred and one specific infrastructure projects.

He also said plans were underway for the construction of ten healthcare infrastructure projects through Nigeria’s sovereign investment authority under the period.

The Minister said in the next one or two weeks, the training would commence across all states of the Federation. for the next three years, where about  120,000 frontline health workers serving rural populations will be equipped with the necessary skills, supported by the infrastructure and equipment we will provide.

”At least 1,400 Primary Health Care Centers are now equipped to provide skilled birth attendance, funded through the NPHCDA and the NHIA, covering the 8,300 facilities.”

”In the area of vaccination, over 5 million Nigerian children have been vaccinated against diphtheria using pentavalent vaccine. More than 10 million Nigerian children received tetanus and diphtheria vaccines.”

We are working hard to stop the circulating variant polioviruses from showing up in Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi States.