FG expands digital systems, activates last-mile strategy to improve PHC services — Aina

The federal government is deepening the digitalisation of Nigeria’s primary healthcare (PHC) system to improve service delivery, strengthen decision-making, and expand immunisation coverage nationwide, the Executive Director (ED) of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Muyi Aina, has said.

Addressing journalists during the agency’s quarterly briefing in Abuja, Aina said the reforms are designed to “improve access, strengthen facilities and build community trust” in PHC services.

He explained that digital tools are helping the government act faster and more efficiently. “At least for now, we don’t have enough resources to do everything, but the closer we get to real-time data, the faster and more informed our decisions become,” Aina said.

He confirmed that dashboards showing the performance of PHC facilities nationwide are now publicly accessible, adding that digitised training modules have been deployed to health workers through vetted e-learning platforms.

Aina disclosed that the country has begun deploying electronic medical records under the National Digital Health Initiative, saying, “When a health worker visits, they know what you’ve received and haven’t received. You start to have a health identity and a health record.”

The ED attributed the rising public confidence in PHC systems to the reforms, noting that facility visits had increased from approximately 39 million in 2023 to 47 million now.

“The numbers are trending upwards because people are starting to see that quality is improving,” he said.

On vaccination coverage, Aina said Pentavalent 3 coverage stands at 53 percent, leaving 47 percent of eligible children unprotected, noting that Nigeria has now vaccinated 16.2 million girls against HPV, treated 950,000 people for malaria, 1.4 million for onchocerciasis, 659,000 for lymphatic filariasis, and 353,000 for trachoma, including those reached through recent integrated campaigns.

Aina reported that recent integrated campaigns reached 39 million children with polio vaccine, 59 million children with measles vaccine, and treated millions for malaria and neglected tropical diseases.

He said a second national campaign will run in January and February, and restated that President Bola Tinubu earlier in the year approved ₦68 billion in co-financing for vaccines.

According to him, the intervention prevented a potential nationwide stockout.

He emphasised that procurement of vaccines is centrally coordinated while delivery remains the responsibility of states, “The vaccines are available. But if health workers are not delivering them, they don’t work for us; they work for the states,” he said.

He said mapping of security-challenged and remote areas identified about 7.4 million persons requiring targeted services.

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According to the ED, facility revitalisation is ongoing nationwide, supported through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), which now finances 13,512 PHC facilities.

While disclosing that the Federal Government has activated a nationwide last-mile vaccination strategy using multiple delivery channels, the ED said 7.4 million children have been documented and 3.4 million vaccinated through the approach, while 19 States have signed MOUs with the agency to implement it.

He confirmed that drone delivery has cut access time in Cross River from six hours to about 60 minutes and reduced zero-dose prevalence in Bayelsa from 40 percent to 20 percent.

To cushion inflation, he said facility funding has been increased, with low-volume centres to receive ₦600,000 per quarter and higher-volume centres ₦800,000, with disbursements paid directly to facility bank accounts for transparency.

States, he added, are also adopting a new manpower strategy, with 1,909 community health workers and 1,155 skilled birth attendants hired in the first ten participating states, ensuring continuity and avoiding post-programme disputes.