The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has hinted that the three major under-five killer diseases, Malaria, Diarrhea and pneumonia are preventable and treatable in Primary Health Care centres.
He, however, called on states and local governments to invest more in Primary Healthcare by equipping it with water, solar light and security to make it functional.
Ehanire gave this in his keynote address at the maiden quarterly meeting of the Southwest Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery (SWTLC) on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to him: “The Federal Government in the past have invested heavily in Tertiary healthcare at the expense of the Primary Health Care. This weakness led to the creation of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to give more attention to Primary Health Care.
“We are not happy with the indices we have in maternal and infant mortality and other types of infections such as cholera, measles among many others. Things are embarrassing to us as a nation when we go out to speak about them.
“The meeting is to kickstart the implementation of the MOU on the systematic engagement of traditional leaders in the Southwest zone between the Federal Government through NPHCDA and our esteemed Royal fathers. This is a step in the right direction.
“I want to commend your Majesties for agreeing to partner with the government on Primary health care delivery and for your passion and commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of Nigerians, especially the people of the Southwest zone. We are leveraging the respect our people have for tradition and culture and the influence of our traditional leaders, to improve the health and well-being of the people.
“The Federal government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari holds in high esteem our traditional institution, thus this partnership which we are consolidating today is in fulfilment of that high regard and respect.
“Our traditional institution is pivotal to whatever we do in all sectors, especially in health and government is conscious of the fact that alone, it cannot effectively safeguard the health of the people without the support of our Royal fathers.
“Traditional rulers across the country have been very supportive of government initiatives in the health sector, especially in mobilization, disease surveillance and reporting. Our achievement of a wild polio virus-free status in 2020 would not have been possible without the support of traditional leaders across the country.
“I look forward to this Committee intensifying our community mobilization efforts and advocating to our political leaders at all levels the unquantifiable benefits of investing in the health sector, particularly in primary health care, which is the closest to the people. I believe that working together will fast-track the achievement of our regional and national targets in Routine immunization, COVID-19 vaccination, polio eradication, and maternal and child health,” he stressed.
His Imperial Majesty, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; (Ọjájá II) and the Chairman of SWTLC remarked that they are going to go all out to reach the people in their domain, saying, we are the primary responsibility of our people.
According to him: ” The MoU is a work in progress, we are not talking the talk, we are working the work. We are able to eradicate polio in Nigeria, and female genital mutilation is going out of fashion.
“We are working through advocacy, creating awareness. Look at the success story of COVID-19, Nigeria is one of the best countries in terms of response.
“We have a lot of volunteers in our communities and we are going to put them to use to make the implementation a success,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director, and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) appreciated the Royal Majesties from Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and the Oyo States, for gracing this important meeting which is aimed at ensuring an effective primary health care delivery to the people of the Southwest in particular and Nigeria in general.
According to him:”I am glad we are finally set to start the operationalization of the MOU between our esteemed royal fathers and the Federal Government through NPHCDA. This maiden quarterly meeting will therefore finetune the operational framework for members so that this partnership will be productive.
“Also, we humbly expect that at this meeting the committee will adopt an operational guide for members’ support to PHC programs and interventions (COVID-19 vaccination, polio, measles, yellow fever, rotavirus, all other routine vaccinations, maternal, newborn, and childhood nutrition) in the areas of role modelling, community advocacy, mobilization and sensitization, resource mobilization and monitoring.
“On our part we will brief you on our various PHC programs so that collectively we can achieve better health outcomes for our dear country and especially the Southwest zone. I am glad to inform Your Majesties that this week is also our 2022 African vaccination week (AVW). It is a week set aside every year to promote vaccination and the benefits of vaccines.
“As you may recall, Nigeria was certified wild poliovirus free on 25th August 2020, and this year marks the third-year anniversary of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) eradication in Nigeria, hence the Federal Government through the NPHCDA, will be recognizing and rewarding best performing states in Routine Immunization and COVID-19 as part of the AVW celebrations.
“Although Nigeria remains a wild poliovirus-free country, we cannot afford to be complacent as we need to continue to guard our status. Moreover, there is ongoing transmission of other forms of the poliovirus in the environment. Therefore, we have continued the polio campaigns,” he said.