The Bayelsa State government, South South Nigeria says it is set to identify and immunize the 20,000 children whom the United Nations Children’s Fund reported had not been immunized in the state. It also directed the state Primary Healthcare Board to seek alternative sources of funding to complement the financial support from the government.
The Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made this known on Tuesday when the chairman, Executive Secretary and members of the Bayelsa State Primary Healthcare Board paid him a visit at the Government House in Yenagoa.
To ensure adequate immunizations coverage of children in the remote parts of the state, Ewhrudjakpo directed that a greater number of the water ambulances donated to the state by UNICEF and Gavi Foundation be deployed to predominantly riverine local government areas.
The deputy governor said it was expedient for the board to solicit funding from the multinational oil companies operating in the state, including Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, Aiteo, Conoil and several others. He said, “We appreciate the efforts of your board towards improved primary healthcare service delivery in the state. But to be more effective, the board should deploy the six water ambulances donated by UNICEF to predominantly riverine areas of the state.
“In the area of funding, we really want you to think outside the box to source funds from the international oil companies operating in the state. They should contribute to your funding as part of their corporate social responsibility, to complement what comes from the state and the local governments. “While we are looking at the issues of recruitment of primary healthcare personnel, renovation of dilapidated health centers, we will soon set up a special task force to identify and immunize the 20,000 children whom the UNICEF reported had not been immunized in the state,” he said.
Ewhrudjakpo said for better resource allocation, primary healthcare would enjoy pyramid funding, adding that the state community health insurance is now part of the Bayelsa Health Insurance Scheme. The deputy governor said primary healthcare requires more funding and human resources to run effectively, stressing that inefficiency largely accounted for the plethora of cases being handled at the secondary and tertiary levels of the health management system in the country.
The Chairman of the Bayelsa State Primary Healthcare Board, Markson Amaegbe-Tamuno, urged the state government to approve the recruitment of more health workers to be deployed to grossly understaffed health centers across the state. He also appealed for the renovation of some dilapidated health centers, the provision of a befitting office for the board and the constitution of the local government’s primary healthcare authorities.
