Janet Ogundepo
The MTN Foundation and the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to remodel 52 Primary Healthcare Centres across the country.
This was made known at the official signing of the agreement in Lagos recently.
PUNCH Healthwise had earlier reported that the Federal Government vowed to add 9,300 PHCs to the current 8,300 in the next four years.
FG vows to build 9,300 PHCs in four years – Healthwise (punchng.com)
According to the organisers, the remodelling, which will cost N2.2bn, would cover equipment, consumables, and provision of alternative power supply and medication in the 52 centres, among other projects.
Shedding more light on the remodelling project, the Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Mrs Odunayo Sanya said, “This initiative commenced in 2015, it was born out of the fact that we needed to drive inclusion in the way that we do our projects and interventions.
“And so ‘What Can We Do Together’ is a feedback initiative, where we open a course for Nigerians to nominate communities that they believe deserve to get the particular intervention. This is our fifth outing and what makes this very unique is the partnership.
“We believe that it is important to enable the health sector, and the value chain, and the best place to do that would be at the grassroots.
“So last year, we opened a call for applications for remodelling of 40 primary health care centres. And beyond the money, it was so much about how we drive sustainability in what we do. And so, that is where the partnership with PHSAN comes in.”
Also, the Managing Director of PHSAN, Dr Tinuola Akinbolagbe stated that the initiative was aimed at revamping and establishing at least one standard PHC in each of the 774 Local Government Areas.
He also said that the project has kicked off in six states, namely Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Jigawa, Kogi, and Rivers State, adding that plans are underway to remodel 60 PHCs by the end of the year.
“Commitments from people that have come forward and who have said, we’re going to manage or we’re going to run these PHCs. We’ve had a total of 180 PHCs and that is over a quarter of our target.
“We have done an audit in 92 PHCs and for the year 2024, we are planning to roll out 17 PHCs, this is separate from those under the MTN foundation. So for the entire year, we plan to have at least 60 PHCs rolling out by the end of this year,” the PHSAN MD said.
She added that the ongoing projects already recorded notable improvements in immunisation rates and maternal and infant care.
On his part, the Chairman of Coronation Capital and PHSAN’s Director, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede congratulated the MTN Foundation for its corporate social investment and desire to work together with PHSAN.
He said, “PHSAN was not the brainchild of Nigerians. It’s the brainchild of Bill Gates and at a session in Abuja, he challenged us. I think, at that session were Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, myself, and the then Minister of State, who is now the Minister, and a few others, and he said that the Nigerian private sector must partner and collaborate very strongly to make a concerted impact. Working alone, you will do things, but working together, you will do truly historic things.
“You will create the type of attraction required to change a country of 200 million plus. And, you know, with the type of demographics that we have, that it’s not one man alone or one organisation alone, or even government alone that can make that difference.
“And so when we do things as PHSAN, we recognise the proverbial analogy to a broom that we all grew up with. When you have a broomstick, you can break it, but when you take the broom as a whole and you try to break it, you find that it’s almost impossible, to do so.”
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adeluyi, said that the partnership with PHSAN was to ensure the credibility and sustainability of the project.
“Over 20 years, they spent more than N28 billion on social investments. We’ve been facing sustainability issues. That’s why I say this is a defining moment. Here is PHSAN, with all its efficiency and here is MTN, looking for that efficiency. And they’ve come together. I want to say that the foundation is happy for two reasons. One is that the constitution of the body itself is made up of perhaps the best people who can drive it.
“The MTN Foundation is a pacesetter. If you look at the Nigerian space, there are hundreds of thousands of foundations. But the foundation has been particularly formalised. It’s autonomous of its major company, MTN,” Adeluyi said.
In his remarks, the executive director of the National Primary Health Development Agency, Dr Muyi Aina, represented by the Lagos State Coordinator, Dr Olusegun Emiju, described the signing of the MOU as a milestone event, noting that the private sector was integral to a nation’s development, innovation and economic growth.
He added that health was the foundation of human capital and national development and needed private sector contributions.
“It is therefore apt that the organised Private Sector working through PSHAN is keen on investing in primary health care, the bedrock of our national health policy. It is our earnest hope that today is just a drop of what would become a deluge of MOU for PHC revitalisation,” Aina added.
He reassured that the NPHCDA was committed to “efficient, equitable, quality and trusted Primary Health Care services and to making a total of 17,600 PHC facilities functional over 4 years.”
Copyright PUNCH
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
