By Ibrahima Yakubu
Kaduna (Nigeria) – Likoro and Unguwar Dan Yanma communities in Igabi local government area of Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, have expressed worry about the inadequate and poor state of Primary Health Care (PHC) in the area.
Mallam Hayatu Isah, the District Head of Likoro community with a population of over 500 habitants, told newsmen that the only health facility in the area also host other communities thereby finding it difficult to cater for the number of patients that come to the PHC daily.
Hayatu said, “Our hospital is in a sorry state as you can see the building structure decaying day-by-day and we lack other facilities in the hospital including staff, among other things.”
Hayatu noted, ”The hospital is in the heart of the villagers, once it collapses, more lives of women and children including the elderly ones would be in danger, if you check inside, you will see the poor condition of all the facilities, that is why our heart beat each time we look at the hospital.”
Majority of the habitants of the two communities are Hausa and Fulanis along with other minor tribes who are predominantly farmers and fishermen, while others are into petty businesses.
According to the district head, the two communities have been in existence for hundreds of years and have been living peacefully with the neighboring communities.
The only means of transportation in the village are motorcycles and Bicycles as well as Canoe for crossing the River before reaching the other communities.
Hayatu added that the hospital has one doctor in charge of consultation, combining with other services for the entire communities, adding that it becomes impossible for the doctor to be able to attend to the large number of patients that attend the hospital daily .
He stressed the need for the rehabilitation of the hospital and more qualified health personnel in the village to reduce the high rate of maternal and infant mortality in the communities.
“lives of citizens is in danger, and to avert this, there is the need to support the community in rehabilitating the physical structure of the hospital building and drugs as one of the ways to save lives of residents,” he advised.
He added that if the hospital finally collapses, the people would face a lot of difficulties and therefore appealed to the local and Kaduna State governments to come to their aid .
He also urged authorities concerned to provide social amenities to improve their living standards.
At Unguwan Dan ‘yamma, another community with a population of over 400l, the district head, Mallam Haruna explained that patients from the community have to go to Likoro hospital for medical attention as they have none.
“Our women attend their anti-natal and deliver their babies in the hospital happily, but lack of health personnel has always been the problem because we have only one doctor in the villages,” he explained.
He added that Likoro hospital is in bad condition, saying, “We are worried about the situation of the hospital because this is the only place where our women and children usually go for any medical attention, and if this hospital finally get destroyed without any effort by the government, our people will surely suffer.”
Haruna then called on the Kaduna State government to quickly intervene in other to save the lives of hundreds of villagers.
