Latatar community residents in Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe state continue to suffer a lack of healthcare delivery as a Health Centre they rely on their healthcare delivery has become deplorable and collapsed.
The Latatar Community Health Centre which serves an estimated 8000 population and 10 communities continues to be in this deplorable condition even as the Gombe state government in 2022 budget allocated N34.450 million to the Ministry of Health.
An amount that is meant to facilitate the provision of healthcare delivery to residents of Gombe state. Good as this initiative looks, the people of Latatar community continue to suffer a lack of healthcare delivery with the money yet to show an improvement in the Community Health Centre.
On a visit to the community, one is confronted with a hugely deplorable hospital that is about near collapse with tattered leaking roofs, while the windows and doors are fallen off.
Tracka, a public accountability organization that first exposed the deplorable condition of the hospital, says on their visit, they found that the Health Centre has only three beds.
The hospital has no power supply and hospital equipment, a situation that further confirms the deplorable condition of the Health Centre.
Worse still, despite the deplorable condition of the Gombe community Health Centre with only two beds, an estimated 8000 population, and 10 communities rely on it for their healthcare delivery.
Miss Monica, a community resident who prefers only her first name mentioned for fear of being victimized by the local government authority, speaking to MAWA described the Health Centre as deplorable that is not fit to deliver healthcare.
Monica in an angry tone narrated how pregnant women in the community suffer because they travel far distances in search of ante-natal care.
A health worker in Latatar Community Health Centre who spoke to MAWA and wants the identity concealed, decry the deplorable condition of the hospital while accusing the Gombe state government of not funding community health.
“Many health workers in Gombe are not happy over the condition of service, you do not receive a good salary and the state won’t fund the health sector to make equipment available in the hospital. What we see is frustration all over”, the health worker told MAWA.
MAWA-Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Gombe State for an official response.