UNICEF urges Katsina to staff and maintain renovated health centres

A renovated maternal and child health centre in Katsina State has been handed over to the government, but UNICEF says the building alone will not deliver better care.

The facility, the Maternal and Child Health Centre in Bakiyawa, Batagarawa Local Government Area, was renovated under Global Fund implementation support. UNICEF Health Manager for the Kano Field Office, Dr. Serekeberehan Seyoum, said the intervention was intended to strengthen primary healthcare and improve outcomes for women, children and other vulnerable groups.

Seyoum said the improved centre should offer better access to essential services and better working conditions for health workers. Management, use and maintenance of the facility now belong to the Katsina State Primary Health Care Agency. UNICEF called on the state to provide adequate staff, essential medicines and other supplies, carry out routine maintenance and begin quality services promptly.

“

We encourage the state government to ensure adequate staffing, provision of essential supplies, routine maintenance, and the prompt commencement of quality service delivery so that communities can immediately benefit from this investment.

“The improved facility will contribute to better access to essential health services, enhanced working conditions for health workers, and improved health outcomes for women, children, and other vulnerable populations,” Seyoum said. He added that communities would benefit only if the centre received the support needed to function.

Acting Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr. Shema’u Kabir said the renovation supported the state’s broader effort to revive primary healthcare facilities. She said the government would provide the equipment needed to make the centre fully operational. Health workers who served there before the renovation, she added, would return and continue providing services.

“

UNICEF has supported the government in improving the infrastructure of the facility, but the state government will provide all the necessary equipment that is required for the takeover of the facility.