60% Lagos primary hospitals in poor shape –Commissioner

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said at least 60 per cent of the primary healthcare centres in the state are not in very desirable state.

Abayomi revealed this on Saturday on his Instagram handle profakinabayomi.

The commissioner, however, said the state government had invested time to conduct a needs assessment on PHC infrastructure to provide evidence-based information for improvement.

He said, “A functional Primary Health Centre is the foundation of a vibrant healthcare system, and as part of the blueprint for the transformation of the medical infrastructure strategy in Lagos State, the lagostategovt has invested time to conduct a needs assessment on PHC infrastructure to provide evidence-based information for improvement.

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“Lagos State has over 325 PHCs, with at least 60 per cent not in a very desirable state. lagosstategovt is currently putting plans in place to refurbish these facilities to cater for the health needs of Lagos residents.

“We currently have the blueprints which will serve as the framework to transform all the PHCs.  Construction will commence soon and we believe that over the next 3 to 4 years the PHCs will be transformed. #ForAGreaterLagos.

“It was a great honour representing the Governor of Lagos State jidesanwoolu as a special guest at the  Adopt-A-Healthcare Facility Program (ADHFP) launch, organised by Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria pshan_alliance themed “Bringing Quality Health Care to The Fingertips of Nigerians.”

According to the World Health Organisation, scaling up primary healthcare interventions could save 60 million lives in low and middle-income countries and increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.

“Achieving the targets for PHC requires an additional investment of around $200 to $370 billion a year for a more comprehensive package of health services.

‘’At the UN high-level UHC meeting in 2020, countries committed to strengthening primary health care. WHO recommends that every country allocate or reallocate an additional one per cent of GDP to PHC from government and external funding sources,” WHO noted.