FCTA Appeals to Rich Individuals, Others to Support PHCs in Abuja

…Requires $22b To Revitalize PHCs

By: Wisdom Acka

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has appealed to philanthropists, spirited individuals and corporate bodies to help revitalize Primary Health Care centres in the Territory.

Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Abubakar Tafida, who disclosed this during a press briefing on Friday in Abuja, noted that it was the only way, the Secretariat would meet its target of serving over six million residents, instead of the original capacity to serve about 1.5 to two million people.

The Secretary stated that though the FCTA was doing its best, such as revitalization of 83 of 154 Primary Health Care centres, procurement of $2.4 million worth of drugs, as well as the development of new structures in the Primary Health Care centres to ensure provision of standard services, among others, a lot still needed to be done.

He appealed: “We are soliciting support from various organizations and international partners as well as individuals to come and look at the status of the PHC and revitalize them, we are not asking for money. You can choose one, or ten and support them. We want to drill boreholes so that there can be water.”

“On behalf of the less privileged people in the FCT, the privileged citizens can look at the state of the system not necessarily within the city and decide which of the PHCs they can choose and be involved in a number of a commitment to our support”, he said.

The Secretary revealed that the Federal Government has introduced the basic health care provision components such as the primary health care component, health insurance aspects, and then, the emergency medical services aspect, all of which were working.

Tafida stated that out of the $22 billion needed by the FCT Administration to close the funding gap of Primary Health Care (PHC), USAID alone has supported with $14 billion.