Danbare community has a well-constructed Primary Health Center (PHC) however, community members have not been able to access the facility as it has remained closed since completion, about a year ago.
Although Danbare is one of the most populous communities in Kano State’s Kumbotso Local Government Area (LGA), most residents, particularly pregnant women, have nowhere to go to access antenatal care or treatment for common diseases like malaria. “I am not sure how most people in this community access healthcare,” lamented Hafiz Khalid, a community member, “because, in the whole of this community, there is no single public healthcare facility where the less privileged can be attended to.”
The community members do not know why the facility is still closed. A source at the Kano State Primary Healthcare Board (KSPHCB) who asked to remain anonymous said the facility “is inaccessible,” adding that it’s among what the Board calls “the 39 facilities,” which private citizens and some government officials built across the state as constituency projects. However, there’s no record so far as to who built the Danbare facility, and when it will be commissioned.
Hajiya Aminatu Muhammad, another resident of Danbare community, was concerned that the facility may be used by criminals as it’s been abandoned for a long time. “There is a need for the government to intervene in its commissioning to avoid the tendency of insecurity as it will be easy for miscreants to occupy it and use it as a hideout for their heinous actions”.
Having a new PHC but being unable to access healthcare services is as good as having none. The people of Danbare community deserve access to equitable, affordable and quality healthcare. They are therefore asking the Kano State government to
- Immediately commission the Danbare primary health care center and have it open for business.