EU donates healthcare facility to Abuja community

- Gui, a community in Abuja has received a new heathcare facility from the European Union

- Women in the community also asked for qualified female midwives, who are friendly, patient and accommodating

- The community also asked the government for schools for their children

It was a day of rejoicing in Gui, a community located along airport road, Abuja, when a new heathcare facility was built in their community.

The commissioning and handing over ceremony of the healthcare centre donated by the European Union (EU), took place on Friday, October 27.

According to Premium Times, the residents called for more government attention and complained over the lack of secondary schools in the community and the poor state of the roads.

Perpetual Nwachukwu, a resident said their children walk about 10km to school everyday.

“A big challenge facing this community is lack of secondary schools. Our children have to walk about 10km to their schools everyday.

“Our children go as far as Gusa and Suleja everyday all in the name of going to school, endangering their lives.

“We plead with the government to build a secondary school for us so our children can stop going far to get education. A secondary school with about five or more teachers will add to the development of this community,” she said.

Mrs Nwachukwu also said: “Before the establishment of this PHC, I go all the way to Kuje General Hospital. That is about 20km from Gui. We are grateful for this privilege given to our community, it is a great honour and it will benefit the whole community."

She urged the government and the EU to bring in qualified female midwives, who are friendly, patient and accommodating as most residents of Gui community “are illiterates, so they don’t allow male nurses to attend to them especially during delivery.”

Dorcas Zakariah, a mother of four also said she visits Kuje hospital for antenatal and other medical services said the healthcare centre will save her the stress.

She said the community was grateful as she and other people will no longer have to go as far as Kuje hospital.

Ketil Karlsen, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS while speaking at the ceremony challenged states to make adequate allocation in the 2018 budget to cover immunisation programmes.

According to Karlsen, the EU had provided an additional N3.8 billion to support the Nigerian government’s immunisation programme in 23 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He said the fund was also to strengthen primary health care under it’s seven-year project Support to Immunisation Governance in Nigeria (EU-SIGN) 2011-2018 initiative.

The project is in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the 23 states targetted are: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Osun , Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

“The amount was used to fund the procurement of vehicles and solar refrigerators as well as the construction and renovation of health facilities and cold stores in 23 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory," the official said.

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NAIJ.com earlier reported that the former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Godswill Akpabio, is yet to react to the closure of the N41 billion Akwa Ibom specialist Hospital in Uyo.

Akpabio who inaugurated the hospital which he termed "world class" hospital has chosen to remain silent on reports of the closure of the facility.

N1,500 for health of Nigerians - on NAIJ.com TV.