By Ifeanyi Okonkwo
Chairman, House Committee on health and member representing Aguata 1 constituency, at the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Carta Dike Umeh has expressed dissatisfaction and worries over the state of the Primary Health Care Agency (PHCA) in Anambra State.
Hon. Umeh while addressing executive secretary Anambra PHCA Dr. Chioma Ezenyimulo and her team at the 2022 revised budget defense in Awka said the best you can do for a constituent is to excess health care.
“I have taken time to go around my constituency; I cannot give you an assurance that I am satisfied with what I have seen.” Umeh lamented
“I am worried about all these monies that have been accessed (More than eight hundred million from 2020-2022) and placed in these various facilities within two years and yet nothing to be showed about it.
“I am not convinced that the PHCA has done well. Moving forward, the solution is here. We have a new government and I tagged it SMS “Soludo Must Succeed” and we have to get it right these time around.
“We will start by coming for an over-sight within two weeks and all the things that were not done before, must be corrected.
However, both Hon. Onyebuchi Ofor, member representing Ekwusigo constituency and Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor who is representing Nnewi North constituency, commended Mrs. Ezenyimulo for her intervention when they reached out to her.
Speaking with The Union Nigeria after the budget defence, Dr. Chioma Ezenyimulo explained further stating that, “The basic health care provision funds is contained in the national health act of 2014 which states that one percent of the consolidated revenue of the federation should go to primary health care.
“Anambra was able to access these funds because the state has functional primary health care maintenance and insurance agency.
“We run a Drugs Revolving Fund which ensures that all our facilities have drugs at any giving point in time and it’s wrong for any nurse at the PHCA to use her personal money to buy drugs.
“In our blue print for 2022, we want to ensure that our core programs which are immunization, nitration, health education and integrated management of childhood illnesses are carried out effectively in all the 21 local government areas of Anambra State where we are in charge of the primary health care facilities.
“We have mapped out critical activities from national Immunization plus days, and the maternal newborn health week which will hold twice in a year. We also have Covid-19 vaccination, which we are currently doing the scale up.
“We are involving all the 326 wards in other to ensure that covid-19 vaccination is going on in every simultaneously at the grassroots.”
