Shocking Revelation About PHCs Administering Covid Vaccines

There are shocking revelation that most Primary Health Centres (PHCs) saddled with the responsibility of administering Covid-19 vaccines are substandard and unfit.

Why then are they still giving people the vaccine?

This is the big question, following the stunning find by a human rights organization.

This shocking revelation emerged on Monday when the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a human rights organisation under the aegis of Connected Development.

The bid is aimed at strengthening and fostering health sector accountability in Nigeria, according to a Punch report on the issue.

Investigations by the human rights body said it tracked 90 PHCs in 15 states, and came off with shocking revelations: About 80 per cent of the PHCs were “substandard and unfit to store, and effectively administer COVID-19 vaccines.”

Seun Durojaiye, Communications Associate of CODE, in a statement said the MoU was a vital step towards enabling the civil rights movement to “further expands its tracking and evaluation of Primary Healthcare Centres across the country.”

She recalled July 2021, when using its ‘FollowTheMoney’ social accountability tool, “CODE tracked 90 Primary Healthcare Centres in 15 States across the country and found that 80 per cent of PHCs are substandard and unfit to store, and effectively administer COVID-19 vaccines.”

“Being the parastatal of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health responsible for the development of primary health care delivery system in Nigeria, the NPHCDA, coming in agreement with CODE, guarantees a path towards uncovering gaps in the healthcare system and introducing best practices to Nigeria’s health sector.”

Such shocking revelation, she said, “has hindered access and equitable distribution of vaccines to Nigeria’s large population.”

Durojaiye said CODE, through the COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project, “is committed to tracking all resources from public sector, private, multilateral and bilateral donors committed to COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of establishing sustainable accountability in the health sector.

Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, said:

“This kind of partnership is a giant step towards transparency and openness in the NPHCDA. This MoU signing is an opportunity to openly demonstrate this transparency. We welcome this collaboration because it is also an opportunity to hear from the people we serve. It is an opportunity to get feedback on the services that will deliver.

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“More than 70 per cent of PHCs across the country do not have the right infrastructure, right drugs, utilities, and limited healthcare workers.