Acting Executive Director of BSPHCDA, Dr Aliyu Shettima, addressing newsmen in his office in Maidugiri.
By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
Borno State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BSPHCDA) has been awarded as one of the best agencies in terms of the management and provision of primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria.
The agency was also awarded by Northern Governors Forum as the most prudent and transparent health agency in Nigeria.
The Acting Executive Director of BSPHCDA, Dr Aliyu Shettima, disclosed this on Saturday while addressing newsmen in his office in Maidugiri.
He commended Governor Babagana Zulum for his untiring support and attention to the health sector which earned the state national awards and funds on health management and healthcare facilities provision.
“The state government has won the National Leadership award of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Nigerians Governors Forum (NGF), where it attracted some funds to the state” he said.
Speaking on the performance, challenges and prospects of the agency, Dr. Shettima, said: “The primary health care service delivery across the present 121 PHC facilities both basic and local in about 121 wards out of the targeted 312 wards of the state have been accorded priority by Governor Babaghana Zulum in the area of recruitment of over 1,000 health workers, rehabilitation and construction of health facilities, as well as provision of drugs and immunization facilities among others.
“Borno State Government through the national health programme and in collaboration with the overseeing State Ministry of Health and Human Services and State Primary Healthcare Development Agency have been operating smoothly and effectively under one roof as a team to meet up with the mandate if the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) which coordinates their activities in all the made 121 primary healthcare facilities across 121 wards with at least one health facility in each of the 121 wards of the state.
Dr. Shettima, further, said that Borno State Government has already completed its assessment for possible scaling up of additional 131 health facilities through either construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of the health facilities in the remaining wards across the state.
He added that the NPHCDA has been very supportive in many ways as it provides funds for number of projects across the existing 121 health facilities with 76 midwives, 3 doctors apart from the 50 medical doctors that the state has under the PHCDA among other health workers
The BSPHCDA boss also said that the agency has put in place all the measures to prevent outbreak of cholera in the state with the deployment of a team of staff to suspected areas of prevalence of diseases.
He said: “We have put in place necessary measures to ensure that we prevent cholera outbreak in the state, as we are working with other line ministries to ensure that.
“Last year, we had an outbreak of Chimera in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Bama but just yesterday we deployed a team to access the camp and see how we can work with other line ministries to look into the environment for the parent outbreak “.
