Residents of Fewit, a community in Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau State do not have access to healthcare delivery as the only hospital in the area is in a terrible condition and needs urgent government intervention.
Even as Fewit community residents in Plateau State do not have healthcare because their only hospital has since collapsed, the State in 2020 claimed to have spent the sum of N563.9 million on direct healthcare intervention. An amount that is yet to show impact on the community health improvement.
Under the deal, the Plateau State in her 2020 budget performance report shows the sum of N333,000,000.00 was approved for the Plateau State Primary Health Care Development Agency and N230,900,000.00 for the Plateau State Contributory Health Care Management Agency, making a total of N563,900,000 been expended by the state government on direct health intervention with the locals as the primary target.
Worse still, despite the collapsed nature of community hospitals across Plateau state, the government in 2020 approved the sum of N66.2 million (66,228,541.00) for the governor’s office.
Tracka, a public accountability organization that exposed the deplorable nature of the community hospital said it needs urgent renovation, hospital equipment, and personnel, and has appealed to Mr. Simon Lalong, the state governor to help fix it.
A health worker that was seen at the hospital while narrating the challenges they face said a resident of the area made available his building where the hospital operates from while its personnel risks their lives living in a building that is near to collapse.
What is not clear is how the Plateau State government had spent N563.9 million on direct health intervention in 2020 alone, and virtually all the rural communities in the state have a collapsed health system.
Plateau state is not the only offender, in Nigeria, evidence has shown over the years that governments at the federal, state and local levels are not interested in providing an effective healthcare system which is why the collapse in health sector is apparent and needs urgent intervention.
MAWA Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Plateau State government for an official response.
