Cross River State Grapples with Non-Functional Primary Health Centres
Cross River State Government has revealed a staggering 849 out of 1,045 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) are non-functional, leaving only 196 operational.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Egbe Ayuk, disclosed this in Calabar on Tuesday during a briefing for the 2024 World Health Day, themed ‘My health, my right’.
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Ayuk acknowledged the state’s challenges in maintaining functional PHCs but expressed optimism, stating that the government aims to increase the number of functional healthcare centres to 450 within the next two years, ultimately reaching a total of 600.
To address the challenges, the state plans to leverage the National Basic Healthcare Provision Fund and access funds from the World Bank. Additionally, the government is working to address personnel shortages, having doubled the number of pharmacists employed since taking office. However, the state still faces significant shortages, with only 30 fully employed doctors and a few contract staff.
To develop its healthcare sector, the state has identified five key pillars: strengthening PHC architecture, subsidised healthcare financing for the poor, a robust health insurance system, equitable health resource allocation, and quality service delivery.
