Lupma is a rural community in Paikoro Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State. The access road to the community is motorable, however their only Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) is not only dilapidated but has only two health workers.
According to Fati Bawa who brought her child for immunization, the biggest challenge in the PHC. ‘’Only one woman is taking care of immunization, delivery family planning and antenatal in this facility’’, she said. She added that anytime there are high numbers of women and children in the PHC, they end up waiting over six hours to be attended to. Additionally, Bawa complained that due to the nonavailability of water, the relatives of patients walk close to one kilometer to get water when women are giving birth.
Yusuf Ibrahim is the in-charge at the PHC, and he corroborated that in addition to a shortage of staff, which causes them to be overworked, the facility lacks a single toilet. “We go home to ease ourselves and come back. It is stressful’’, He said, adding that for patients, they must wait till they get home or make use of the bush or nearby houses.
To render services to the people, PHCs must be in good condition. That include adequate human resource for health and adequate, gender friendly Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities. Paikoro LGA and the Niger State government should take up their responsibility and ensure Lupma PHC and all other health facilities under their purview have the necessary and adequate resources and facilities to provide healthcare to the local community.