“I will rather patronise road side health practitioners than seek
medical help at Atipe Pimary Health Centre. I am not alone in this. A
good number of the residents prefer patronising road side health
providers and herb sellers. The air around the health centre environment
is polluted and one may end up contracting worse sicknesses in the
facility if care is not taken.”
That was how Monsurat, a resident of Atipe, a remote community in
Ibadan East Local Council Development Area of Oyo State, began her
reason for shunning the health centre recently established in the
community.
The space being used by the Primary Health Centre (PHC), according to
our findings, was donated by the family of one Chief Adejumo Adeniyi,
to make the residents have easy access to healthcare services.
The structure sits beside a wide canal where people openly defecate and dump all manner of wastes.
Excreta of different sizes and colour, wrapped in papers and some
left naked on the bare floor, littered every part of the canal when our
correspondent visited. For flies and other creatures that survive on
fecal materials, it is an endless banquet as they always have it as they
wanted – fresh or dry anytime of the day.
The stench emitted by the human and material wastes enveloped the
entire area, forcing irritated passersby to cover their noses and faces
with handkerchiefs while hurriedly passing through the area.
“If passersby could briskly pass through the area covering their
mouths and noses, then imagine what would be the fate of a patient on
admission in the facility. Would he cover his face all through the time
he would be there? This is a huge problem. I have been taking my
children to a traditional medicine practitioner rather than risk
contracting a strange sickness going to the PHC. If a god would not
improve my fortunes, it is better for it to leave me the way I am,”
Monsurat said.
Another resident of the community, who identified himself simply as
Dauda, feared that the stench in the environment would get worse with
the coming of the dry season. He said: “During the rainy season, the
stench is very much reduced because flood helps to flush the rubbish
away. The stench would definitely get worse as we enter the dry season
because there would be no flood to wash the excreta and other wastes
away. The excreta would now be drying up there and as it gradually dries
up, the stench would be getting worse.
“Imagine flies perching and feeding very well on the excreta and
going to perch on the food that a sick person is eating. Is that not
going to compound his woes? This has made many people to abandon the
facility. In this age and time, it is not proper for us to be relying on
roadside health providers for our health needs, but where conditions
around a health facility is capable of compounding your health
situation, is it not better to seek an alternative?”
Aside the dangers posed by reckless defecation in the open, which has
contaminated the PHC’s environment, some other residents said they
stopped going to the facility because the rooms are always flooded
whenever it rains.
“I call the PHC ‘Open Heaven’ because the roof is seriously leaking
and it is just there for decoration. When there is heavy downpour, you
will have to carry your children on your back or shoulder because the
flood may be getting to your kneel level. You will then see the health
workers running helter-skelter to save the few hospital equipment. The
time they would have spent attending to patients is what they waste
clearing the flood and washing things that flood would have messed up.
“Is that the kind of place you want the people to be patronising?
Even though the community is a remote environment, we wouldn’t want to
endanger our lives going to such a dilapidated building.
“It is really a huge challenge and it is regrettable that the family
that donated the facility isn’t getting the desired result. The facility
itself is not the problem. The problem is that the government that is
supposed to support the laudable gesture of the donor isn’t helping
matters,” a resident, who identified himself as Sakiru, said.
The residents’ claims were corroborated by some of the PHC’s workers,
who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity. “People
pooh pooh by the canal and the stench is always unbearable inside the
PHC. No patient would agree to stay because the stench is capable of
causing airborne diseases. Imagine where patients would come to hospital
for treatment and be scared of contracting diseases. It is disturbing.
When rain falls, the whole place would be flooded.The quantity of water
is not the type that one would use mop to drain. We always use buckets
to pack the water. If the rain is very heavy, the flood in the PHC
would almost get to the window level.At that point,both we the PHC
workers and patients would run to a corner that is a bit safe.After such
terrible experience, the patients would stop coming,” one of the
workers said.
Another worker, who is displeased with the condition of the PHC, also
said: “Rain has spoilt everything here. The fans aren’t working
anymore. Look at the walls, they are all damaged. When you use the
toilet and try to flush, the excreta would come up after flushing.
People are not coming because of all these challenges. We have gone
round announcing the presence of the PHC in the neighbourhood but people
are not coming. This whole week, we haven’t seen a patient. Following
the situation we have found ourselves, we don’t work at night. When
pregnant women come at night, we use to refer them to other places.
“We lack basic things we need to do our work. We always put drugs in
cartons which we place on a bench. We need tables, trawleys and medical
equipment. We always go and collect vaccines because we don’t have a
fridge to keep them. We need freezer to protect the vaccines. What
happens most often is that we would go and collect the vaccines and
return them at the end of the day to prevent them from going bad. The
government should act urgently in order to avert a situation where the
people would completely resort to self-medication and seeking help from
quacks.
Robbery attacks ground another health centre
Another area in the ancient city that the residents have been
forced to resort to seeking medical help from quacks is the Oke Offa
Community located in Ibadan North East Local Government Area. Unlike the
Atipe Health Centre that is still partially functional, the Oke Afa
Primary Health Centre, Irefi, is completely grounded.
The facility, which was said to be optimally functioning, was said to have closed down after some robbery attacks.
Some of the residents who spoke with The Nation, feared that danger
could be looming with the manner many people resort to seeking
unempirical treatment for their health challenges.
“The condition we have found ourselves is regrettably dangerous
because people now take whatever they get and visit anywhere they see
for treatment. Many women who would ordinarily go for antenatal checks
at the health centre because of its closeness no longer do that. Many of
them now visit spiritual homes or rely on local herb sellers for help.
The cost of talking sick family members is another issue. Some of our
people don’t have the money to transport themselves to another community
to seek medical help.
“They by so doing keep such sick persons at home and apply all manner
of questionable treatment on them. That was never the case when our
health centre was functional. Residents could easily trek there and get
treated with the support of the community leaders,” a resident, who
gave his name as Abayomi, said.
Another resident, who gave his name simply as Sunday, expressed
concern that a new wave of health challenges may be looming in the area
following the way some people recklessly consume concoctions to take
care of their health challenges. “We enjoyed unhindered access to
healthcare when the health centre was operational but that is no longer
the case. When the health centre was functional, the community leaders
would mobilise mothers to take our children there for every available
vaccination. But that is no longer happening. The development has made
many of our people who naturally would not want to go to the hospital to
stay back and take anything that comes their way as medical help. ”
Also bemoaning the fate of the PHC, a community leader and treasurer
of the Irefin Babasale CDC, Chief Okeloye Timothy, recounted how the
community leaders invested their resources and time to establish the
health centre.
“We started the PHC for the good of our people. Before now, a former
chairman of the community gave us a room and a parlour in his own
property to use as health centre. Almost immediately, the place started
growing as nurses were sent from Ibadan North East Local Government.
Aside from nurses, they also gave us beds, tables and other basic things
that the PHC needed to thrive.
“When the room and parlour became inadequate for the number of people
going there for medical help, the popular Alalade family here in Ibadan
gave us a whole building free of charge. They only asked us to
acknowledge them by indicating that it was donated by them. We did
exactly that as you can see their name boldly written on the building.
When the place became operational, people started coming from far and
wide. It was doing so well that health officers were coming from Abuja
to conduct trainings and also give lectures to the health workers,” he
said.
Asked how the PHC was being funded, he said: “We were using our
community resources to fund all the activities because aside from giving
us nurses and some few materials, no other form of support came from
the government. As big as the PHC was becoming, there was no water
supply of any kind in the premises. The nurses go about with buckets and
other containers searching for water.
“They travel over a long distance to get water. They would have been
saved all that stress if the government back then had deemed it to
complement our effort by providing water for the PHC. There was a time
that robbers broke into the PHC. That happened because there was nobody
complementing the efforts of the CDC. They stole the meter and also
removed the wires used to connect light into the PHC. After succeeding
the first time, the robbers came again the second time and carted away
virtually all the valuables in the PHC. One day, the nurses parked
everything that was remaining in the place and left without telling us.”
Shocked by the nurses’ action, the elderly community leader said: “We
later confronted them because a good part of what they went away with
was procured with by us but they ignored us. The nurses who worked
before the centre parked up informed us that there were signs that the
building was falling apart and about to collapse.
We are sad about the plight of pregnant and nursing mothers in the
community. Many of the residents go anywhere they deem fit for
treatment unlike before when we can sensitise and mobilise them to go
for medical checks at the defunct PHC. Today, our women now go to
herbalists, traditional birth attendants and churches to put to bed. We
are working very hard to see how this PHC could be revived for the
health needs of our people. Our people no longer enjoy all available
vaccinations that were readily available to them in the past. All health
benefits to our people are gone. This is regrettable. We will be
meeting with the new governor, Seyi Makinde, for assistance.
Hospital without equipment, workers at Ibadan North
Checks around Oje Igosun and Yemetu areas of Ibadan North Local
Government revealed how the residents have been denied easy access to
healthcare services even when they have a newly built Primary Health
Centre in the neighbourhood.
Findings revealed that the PHC is a constituency project. Documents
available have the name of the University Teaching Hospital (UCH) as the
agency in charge of the facility.
The facility has remained under lock since it was completed.
According to the residents, hoodlums have begun to mill around the
building and could soon begin to vandalise it.
“We sincerely don’t know why the facility has not become operational.
When we were told what the structure is meant for, we were very glad
because it would make us have easy access to healthcare. They are yet
to commence work since they completed it. UCH officials have come here
promising that they would soon start work but they are nowhere to be
found.
“Area boys use the environment as base for smoking Indian hemp.
Before you know it, they would begin to vandalise the building and
pilfer the materials. There is a well in front of the building that has
not been properly fixed. It poses great danger to kids who play around
the area because they could fall into it. The earlier they make the
facility operational the better for us as residents and the government,
considering the money spent there,” a resident who preferred anonymity,
said.
UCH management endlessly delays response
Contacted last week to know why the PHC has not been operational, the
Public Relations Officer of UCH, Akintoye Akinrinlola, fumed that he
was asked to provide response within a short time, threatening to do a
rejoinder before the report was published.
After sending details of the project and the building to his email,
Akintoye replied: “Good evening Mr. Duru. I received your email message
to me. I have gone through the issues raised. My CMD is currently out of
town and I have to take permission from him to respond to the issues.
Furthermore, I need to ask all relevant departments the situation of
things on the issues. After that, I will get back to you. Kindly bear
with us please.”
When this reporter reached out to him during the week, he promised to
get the response ready by Thursday. When the reporter pleaded that the
response should come on Wednesday, Akintoye requested that the reporter
should call him on Wednesday morning to remind him about it. This
reporter did as agreed and Akintoye said they were working on it and
that it would be provided as soon as they were done.
No response was heard from the institution that day.
When a call was put to his mobile line on Thursday morning, Akntoye
said: “Innocent, lease, I have not done it. I am seriously upset. Give
me time. I don’t want to talk to you in a way you won’t like. Please,
please, please.”
Our plans for PHCs – Oyo govt
Oyo State Health Commissioner, Dr Bello, said the current state
government is not resting on its oars in making sure that PHCs in the
state are functional.
He said: “Knowing that health is one of the major pillars of this
government, we are following a programme that is called Primary
Healthcare Under One Roof. That has brought into place the combination
of both primary health centres and Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme.
“Actually what bedevilled the issue of primary health centres was
the non-functionality of the local governments as an entity in the
past eight years. But now, all that has been concentrated under the
primary health care development agency and the person in charge is Dr
Olatunji. They are now developing a primary health care centre per
local government per month.
“However, for those centres that have keyed into the health care
insurance programme, they will have enough money from their enrollees
to be able to on their own be able to improve on their facilities. With
the insurance scheme, most of these health facilities can easily be
provided for through the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme.”
The government, according to him, has released all the necessary
counterpart funds. “ In fact, the Senate and other federal agencies are
looking into healthcare development agencies.Just a week a go, we had a
retreat in Abuja and we actually thank our senators and our House of
Assembly members and everybody who were there physically.
“What we are observing now is not just the issue of the government
but that of the laxity of our people. If the people using them buy in
into the projects, vandalisation, theft, and so many other things
wouldn’t have happened.
“All we now need do is more than equipping any centre. It is to
ensure that the level of awareness of our people is taken care of. They
should be made to know that this thing belongs to them. There is no
entity called public, we are all public. They should be made to guide
jealously whatever the government provides for them. If we repair them,
the same story will repeat itself. That is why we want to put it under
one roof and let people guide it by themselves. Health education is very
important and paramount.”
He added: “With the present partnership (PPP) that the government is
actually lookin into, healthcare development programmes will not need to
be fund recycling. That is why it looks like when we do budget
annually, it seems we are repeating the same thing every year because
our people don’t take care of it and the things would have to be
refurbished, and replenished. But right now, we willll let them know
that attention is given to you, take care of these things.
“For the capitation paid in by the enrollees, the centre can be
improved. For those centres that have very good enrollees, even the
agency had employed nurses and doctors on their own and not by
government. Those ones know that they are committed to the very centres
to which they are employed and knowing that they are working with the
agency, the efficiency is better than those that would say I am state
employed. So far so good, I will call the attention of the individuals
concerned when I take a look at those places you have mentioned.Thank
you very much for your interest and by the grace of God, we would step
up the health education and awareness of people in our society.”
Speaking on the PHC affected by open defecation, the commissioner
said: “Can a stranger come and be defecating in the canal located in the
community? We should be our brothers’ keepers. I have told you the
mentality of ‘it doesn’t belong to anybody’. It was during the colonial
and post-independence era that government catered for everything and
all we could do was to reproduce.
“When we ask people to come for polio vaccination, they would say,
when are they finishing and when would they leave? They would go to the
market and leave a preventive health measure. When UNICEF introduced
polio plus, that is after you bring a child for vaccination, they would
give you a box of matches.
“It is then that a woman would go into the community and call other
women that they are sharing matches. Then they will all bring their
children to collect match boxes They attach more value to the match
boxes they are collecting than the health and future of their children.”
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