Worried by the deplorable state of some Primary Health Centres in Ogun State, The Wellness Africa Foundation (WAF), LEAP Africa and Nigeria Youth Futures Fund (NYFF) have called for community support for the state government to enhance healthcare services.
The groups believe that the government alone cannot renovate the dilapidated health facilities and that community support is also necessary to refurbish them.
WAF made the call during a health outreach at Ode-Omi in Ogun waterside Local Government Area of State to advocate for the renovation of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the community.
The outreach, organised by the Wellness Africa Foundation (WAF) with the support of Leap Africa and the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund, aimed to mobilize community support and engage key actors in the revitalization of healthcare facilities across Ogun State.
The Executive Director of WAF, Akintunde Akinmolayan, stressed that the government alone cannot address the challenges facing PHCs.
He said “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 enroll 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.
