Primary healthcare centers are built to address the main health problems in communities by providing promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services. However, the state of most of these PHCs are nothing to write about.
According to Prof. Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, the Federal Government has released N420 million to each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to revitalise Primary Health Care centres. He said this on Monday, at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, just after paying a working visit to the hospital.
He explained that the money was seed money from the Federal Government to the states to assist them in the revitalization of primary health care centres in their areas, which may lead hopefully to “a reversal of influx of patients into our tertiary health facilities in the states”.
He added that motion had been set to monitor and to ensure that the money was spent judiciously and that the revitalisation efforts were extended to the rural areas as well.
During his visit, the minister explained that the UCH was capable of handling any medical case with the available manpower and facilities, stating that the hospital was in the best position to reverse medical tourism based on the available manpower and facilities he saw in the hospital.
At the end of the visit, the Chief Medical Director of UCH, Prof. Temitope Alonge, described the visit of the former provost of the College of Medicine and immediate past Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan as “a home coming”.