Residents of the Uya Oro community in Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, in different narratives, are recounting how a community Primary Healthcare Centre that has been under lock since four years after it was completed is denying them access to healthcare.
The Uya Oro community hospital has no staff or equipment and has been abandoned. This is a situation community residents say is responsible for the death of their relatives and loved ones, while few of them who have the means travel far distance to other towns in search of medical care.
Worse still, the Akwa Ibom Uya Oro community Primary Healthcare Centre which has been under lock for four years since it was completed is meant to serve an estimated 7,000 population the locals said.
The locals who spoke to Tracka a public accountability organization that visited the community, say there is no functional healthcare in their community. They, however, disclosed that the General Hospital in Oron town now serves as the only hospital they rely upon for their medical care.
This is even as they disclosed that not every home that can afford the means to visit the Oron General Hospital for medical care while pointing out that those who do not have the means resign their fate to God, and others have died because they received no treatment to cure them of their illness.
Mr. Mathew Akamoye, who said he had lived in Uya Oro for over 15 years, and claims to have a good knowledge of the situation in the community while speaking to MAWA, says the residents are facing a huge lack of healthcare delivery.
Speaking in a helpless tone, Akamoye wondered why a hospital that is meant to serve a huge population will be locked up and not put to use four years after it was completed.
“I do not understand the sense of locking up a hospital that is meant to serve a huge population that lacks access to healthcare, four years after it was completed,” Akamoye told MAWA.
It is unclear why the Akwa-Ibom State government will allow a Primary Healthcare Centre meant to serve an estimated 7,000 population that lack access to healthcare and are losing relatives and friends to illnesses to be locked up four years after it was completed.
The deplorable condition of Healthcare Centres found all over Nigerian communities, shows that the country is yet to realize that Primary Health Care is a frontline response to about 80 percent of the country’s population’s health needs.
And, if the Nigerian state must address her health challenges, she must acknowledge that Primary Healthcare Centres are fundamental, and ensures they are strong and effective to deliver service to the people.
MAWA Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Akwa Ibom state government for an official response.