From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
The FederalGovernment has constituted the South East Traditional Leaders’ Committee on Primary Health Care (PHC) Delivery in Enugu.
Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who inaugurated the committee, said the move was to mobilise traditional rulers to be part of government efforts in driving primary healthcare and COVID-19 vaccination to communities in the South East.
Ehanire noted that the Federal Government will rely on their powers of advocacy and the respect the traditional rulers command to push PHC services and COVID-19 vaccination in the zone.
“With the inauguration today we are making them more relevant to issues of PHC services and they should also have royal input and oversight to ensure that PHC centres under them in communities function optimally.
“We are targeting a huge change, growth and patronage to PHC services and COVID-19 vaccination; and we must achieve all these by active and effective collaboration with our respected and influential traditional rulers.”
On his part, the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said that with the inauguration, the traditional rulers had been directly connected to the PHCs, adding that “there is no greater collaboration than working and going through traditional rulers to reach the communities.
He commended the giant strides of Enugu State, through the support of Gov. Ugwuanyi, to PHC services and programmes, adding that the state had continued to witness “sustained and improved” PHC services and ranking for some years now.
The Chairman of the SETLC Committee, Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu, said that the traditional rulers had been part of the PHC before now, but “with this inauguration, we will personally ensure that all PHC services run successfully in our various communities”.
Agubuzu, who is also the Chairman of Traditional Rulers’ Council in Enugu State, said: “We are going to redouble our efforts by putting PHC services and COVID-19 vaccination advocacy at the front burner in our various communities.”
