Borno
Action Health Incorporated (AHI) tackles challenges of access to healthcare services in Borno
Action Health Incorporated (AHI) tackles challenges of access to healthcare services in Borno
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
Action Health Incorporated (AHI), with support from the Nigeria Humantrain Fund (NHF), has addressed the difficulties in getting healthcare services by offering fair and comprehensive access to quality sexual reproductive health (SRH), nutrition, and support for gender-based violence (GBV) in the Damboa Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State.
The achieved target and challenges faced during the implementation of healthcare delivery were identified over the weekend at a closeout meeting of the Strength Project in Maiduguri.
Speaking on the inaccessible healthcare services, the AHI Coordinator, Dr Musa Williams, said: “There is limited access to secondary healthcare facilities in Damboa LGA, where residents could not have direct access to specialised medical service care, particularly among the vulnerable populations affected by insurgency.”
Williams added that the lack of blood banks also poses a significant risk to patients that require transfusions or other blood-related treatment.
Besides the lack of blood banks, the coordinator added that infrastructure deficits play a role in people with disabilities not having access to health facilities, as they do not have installed slabs, which daily restricts easy access for people with disabilities in the state.
Beyond accessing health facilities, the coordinator added: “The cultural malpractices of the traditional surgical removal of whitish cheek discolouration due to severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are also another challenge in accessing healthcare delivery services in the state.”
The Strength Project theme, “Strengthening Access to Integrated Healthcare Services for Vulnerable Populations in Damboa”, is dedicated to improving access to life-saving, integrated primary healthcare services for vulnerable populations by what he described as “strengthening the community health system and promoting preventive care”.
Williams stated that AHI has performed much higher than its initial targets on health facility services by 102%, while mobile healthcare services also hit 171 per cent.
According to him, even the skill deliveries in the council area rose by 72%.
Responding to the closeout event of AHI in the state, most of the participants demanded an extension of the Strength Project to other LGAs, despite its closure in Borno state, as cases of snake bites are on the rise in the Dikwa, Mobbar and Gwoza local council areas for intervention to save people’s lives.
Most of the women and children were provided with treated mosquito nets and antenatal and postnatal medications against malaria and other preventable diseases in the council area, devastated by the over-a-decade insurgency. While mothers and their newborns were given delivery kits. Essential drugs were also provided through medical mobile outreach in communities and hard-to-reach areas. We have provided essential drugs to three facilities and trained health care workers to support them.