Sheshimandiko is a rural community in Gbako Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State. Although the community has a health centre, it lacks the most basic infrastructure necessary to support its everyday operations and provide quality healthcare to the community members who are predominantly farmers.
Gata Ndako, is the only health worker providing care for the community and he also serves as the facility officer in-charge. He said the facility lacks adequate bed space, human resource is inadequate, there is no electricity, and the building is in a sad state of disrepair. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is a critical component for delivering quality health care. Sadly, Sheshimandiko health centre lacks toilets and a water source such as a borehole, which makes providing healthcare services to the community challenging. Community members who use the facility’s services should be provided access to adequate WASH.
The list of challenges appears to be unending as Ndako also added that women are unable to give birth comfortably as there is no labour room. There is also the fact that women find it hard to access routine immuminsation (RI) services, as the lack of adequate space forces them to wait outside leaving them vulnerable to the weather.
Ndako alone cannot be the only person delivering health services to members of Sheshimandiko community. Human resources for Health are a requirement for delivering optimal healthcare at any level of care and ultimately achieving Universal Health Coverage.
Everybody deserves the right to quality, equitable, accessible and affordable health care. For people living in communities like Sheshimandiko, primary health care is often their first and only contact with quality health care when they fall sick. Therefore, the officials of Gbako LGA and the Niger State government should,
- Build Sheshimandiko a standard Primary Health Centre according to the national guidelines
- Employ more staff to boost the staff strength at the PHC
- Provide electricity and a source of clean water supply
- Ensure that essential drugs are always available in the PHC