Nigeria’s primary healthcare centres lack adequate drugs, funding – NAS

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) (Pyrates Confraternity) has lamented the state of the nation’s primary healthcare centres, saying most of them lack adequate drugs, funding and medical professionals to service the patients.
The NAS Capoon, Abiola Owoaje, while fielding questions from newsmen yesterday in Kaduna during the Association’s free medical outreach to the Romi community in the Chikun local government area of the State, said poor budgetary allocations to the health sector by the government, brain drain among medical doctors, amongst other factors are responsible for low healthcare services in communities across the country.
NAS Capoon Owoaje informed that over 6000 people in the Romi community who are suffering from eye diseases, hypertension and other ailments are expected to receive the free medical services provided by the Association.
“We normally carry out medical outreach, particularly where people in a community have health issues that need medical attention. We are having our quarterly meeting in Kaduna this weekend. Wherever we are, we look around areas where we can provide support to the community, and we often find out that there is always a shortage of healthcare. We have now organised a medical mission to take care of this, knowing fully well that the government alone cannot provide these facilities all the time.
“So we are here today to provide free health care delivery ranging from eye problems to hypertension and other ailments that people are always suffering from. All these we are providing free of charge to the community health centre with the medical doctors of the centre attending to the people.
“As usual, there has never been enough budget provided for health care by the government. That is why more often than not we hear that healthcare facility, especially in low-income community areas is a big challenge to the people.
so realised that the budget provided for health care is not high enough as said by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and we feel that some of these things are part of what contributed to health issues in these communities, and that is why we come together to see where we can contribute our quota to block some these shortages.
“From what we are seeing, over 6000 people are likely to benefit. Every time the government comes up with a budget, there is a need to put more effort into what is allocated to health care.
“At the moment there is no adequate funding given to health care, and that is why you see a lot of our health care professionals going abroad, and we find out that the professionals who are to man health facilities like this, you don’t see them. They have all gone to Europe and other places, and deny the people from gaining from the training they had had here in Nigeria.
“The citizens now suffer as they are left in the hands of unserious people on the ground. As an organisation, we have chapters all over the world; in Europe, America, Nigeria, South Africa and so on.
“Within Nigeria itself, we branch in the States of the country where we carry out medical missions. As we do this we also inform the government that the people are in dire need of better health care facilities, better professionals and more funding for health care”.
Also fielding questions from newsmen, the facility manager of the primary healthcare centre, Romi, Mrs Altine Shok expressed happiness over the free medical outreach by NAS, saying, “It is amazing that this free medical mission is happening in my facility today.
“Over 6000 people in the community are benefiting from the free medical services. I appreciate the gesture by the organisation. We have never seen this type of gesture as we are seeing today. We don’t have enough drugs, and the facility is not spacious enough, it needs to be expanded.