Only 1.8% of Nigeria’s PHCs have Required Skilled Birth Attendants — Official
The Nigerian government on Wednesday said only 463 (1.8 per cent) out of 25,380 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) in the country possess the required number of Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs).
While speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said there is an unequal distribution of available SBAs among the PHC facilities in the country.
Mr. Shuaib said the government is introducing the Community-based Health Research, Innovative-training and Services Programme (CRISP) to address this significant challenge. He said CRISP will be launched on 22 May, at the banquet hall of the state house.
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Mr. Shuaib said CRISP aims to leverage the rural posting of resident doctors to support PHC development in partnership with Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres, State Primary Health Care Boards, Local Government Health Authorities, and communities.
He said the intervention specifically focuses on increasing, retaining, and improving the quality, competency, and distribution of a committed PHC workforce, including facility outreach and community-based health workers.
Mr. Shuaib said: “This will be achieved through effective management supervision, appropriate compensation, and the recruitment and deployment of Human Resources for Health, such as medical doctors, midwives, nurses, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), to prioritise PHC facilities nationwide.”
He said the implementation of CRISP will be phased across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adding that the funding “will come from the government, supported by development partners, philanthropists, and other stakeholders.”
