BY Idris Shehu
The Bauchi State Government has upgraded the Tashena Primary Health Care facility to a Referral Health Centre where people from neighboring communities in Zaki Local Government Area can access better health services.
This was disclosed by the state commissioner of health, Dr. Aliyu Mohammed Maigoro during the official commissioning and handing over of the centre which was fully renovated by the European Union intervention project through UNICEF held at Tashena Zaki local government area.
Dr. Maigoro said that the present PDP-led Governor Bala Mohammed administration has identified health and education sectors among the top priority areas hence it has placed high premium on partnerships that would add value to governance and to the lives of the people.
According to him, the partnership between Bauchi State Government and EU-UNICEF has evidently shown strong determination and commitment in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals number 3 which focuses on good health and well-being.
He therefore commended the enormous contributions given by the UNICEF where he assured them that Bauchi State Government and the State Primary Health Care Development Agency will continue to provide the needed resources and counterpart funds that will further push for more interventions which will in turn provide the required health system and guaranteed healthy communities.
In his remark the Executive Chairman State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed said that beneficiaries of all EU-UNICEF MNCH intervention will attend to Antenatal Care services, skilled birth deliveries, Immunization, and Child Birth services and other PHC health programmes.
Dr. told the gathering that Tashena Primary Health Care is among the luckiest health centres that was renovated by the EU-UNICEF intervention and even fall within the brackets of 18 selected ‘Centre of Excellence’ in the 107 health care centers that have undergone total replenishment and equipping, and called on the people to take effective ownership and safeguard the facility from the decay and mismanagement.
The UNICEF Chief, Bauchi Field Office, Mr. Bhanu Pathak stated that in 2017 UNICEF received support from the European Union under the project initiative titled ‘strengthening primary health care and community resilience for improved maternal, New-born, Child Health and nutrition (MNCHN) outcomes project in three northern states of Nigeria’ which included Bauchi.
Pathak further explained that over the years, UNICEF has been partnering and supporting the state in the key sectors of health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, basic education and child protection, while already it has also supported the state in the delivery of health care to 144 hard to reach settlements in 9 LGAs.
He said the support came through the use of 9 mobile outreach teams and outreach services, with 1,200 community resource persons (CORPs), trained and kitted and have been providing appropriate treatment to 334,463 under 5 children aged 6 – 59 months identified with symptoms of any of the three killer diseases (Malaria, Diarrhea, and Pneumonia) and according to him, it was mainly targeted to support universal health achievement.
The District Head of Zaki who is also the Galadiman Katagum, Alhaji Usman Mahmud has in appreciation of the project, thanked the Bauchi State Government and UNICEF for the intervention to the Tashena Health Care Center which, he stated, will impact positively towards improving the quality of health care services in the communities.
