Agency
Cross River State Government has revealed that only 196 Primary Health Centres out of the 1,045 centres spread across the state are functional.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Health Dr Egbe Ayuk in Calabar on Tuesday during a briefing to mark the 2024 World Health Day themed ‘My health, my right’.
He noted that the celebration was shifted because of the Eid-el-Fitr public holidays declared by the Federal Government.
He, however, said that the number of functional healthcare centres would be increased to 450 within the next two years.
According to the commissioner, the state has been facing challenges in terms of having functional PHCs.
He stated, “Today we have 1045 primary healthcare facilities but the structural ones that are functional are about 196.
“We expect that within the next two years, we will upgrade it to 450 and bring the total number of functional facilities to 600.”
Ayuk said that the state would leverage the National Basic Healthcare Provision Fund that assisted states in developing their healthcare needs.
“We take advantage of what they have on the ground and also access funds from the World Bank,” he added.
The commissioner said that other challenges within the health sector include a lack of personnel.
He said the present administration did not meet up to eight pharmacists in the state employment but that the number had been doubled since the government came into office.
The Commissioner also said that only 30 doctors were currently fully employed in the state with a few contract staff.
He also disclosed that the state developed its healthcare sector along five pillars that include developing a strong PHC architecture, having a subsidised healthcare financing system for the poor, putting in place a very strong health insurance system, ensuring equity in health resource allocations as well as ensuring quality service delivery.
(NAN)
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