Mazan Gudu Primary Healthcare post in Gabasawa Local Government Area of Kano State is in a dilapidated condition; it cannot offer first aid of any form to patients who visit the facility.
Mazan Gudu community thrives on farming cash crops, carrying out menial jobs like block moulding, and hawking street food.
Following the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) Minimum Infrastructure standard for a Health Post, the centre should have two rooms with cross ventilation and the roof must be in good condition with functional doors and netted windows. The present condition of Mazan Gudu’s health post contrasts with the minimum requirement of NPHCDA.
The health post is infested by termites; most of the wooden furniture in the interior is covered with cobwebs, no electricity or alternative source of power supply, the toilets are in a decrepit state as the septic tank is filled with dirt, and all sorts of rubbish causing it to stink.
On 25 November 2023, Stallion Times visited the health facility it was under lock and key, and no medical staff was seen, even after a wait for two hours (10:00 am to 12 noon). On a second visit on the same day, late evening (4:00 pm to 6:00 pm), nobody was seen to represent medical personnel.
Stallion Times learned that the only male medical staff that attends to community members, shows up at will.
The facility was under lock and key, as the padlock and doors were covered in dust, depicting a state of abandonment.
This reporter was duly informed that on 20th July 2022, Dahiru Sule, a resident of the community had an accident along the Kano Gumel Road highway just before Mazan Gudu junction on his way back home.
He was rushed to the health post, unfortunately, not a simple first aid or any form of treatment was administered to him as no medical personnel was around to attend to him.
Sule’s death could have been avoided if he had minimum access to healthcare services at the time he was rushed to the facility.
21-year-old Fatima Dahiru, a child of the deceased is still mourning her dead father and agonised by the lack of quality healthcare delivery in the community.
Fatima narrates the incident that led to her father’s death: “On September 2021, Dahiru set out to the market to buy fertilizer but on his way back home, he had an accident along Gabassawa way and was rushed to Gabassawa General Hospital because the health facility at Mazan Gudu can better be described as not having any.
“At the hospital, we waited for more than 2 hours without response because it was crowded with so many patients.
“We got tired of waiting and opted to take him to a traditional medicine doctor. His situation could not be handled there so we took him to a clinic where he later stabilised.
“It was late in the night at 1:00 am that my father’s loud shout for help woke us up. He was lying in the pool of his blood; he bled to death.
“That is how my father died that night because some people did not do the job they were paid for.”
According to the Nigerian Red Cross, certain accident-related deaths are attributed to the non-availability of first aid. This however suggests that Dahiru’s death could be prevented if the Mazan Gudu Health post was functional and had at least a medical staff who could administer first-aid.
According to the NPHCDA, a PHC of Health post should have functional separate male and female toilet facilities with water supply within the premises, and be connected to the national grid or other regular alternative power source.
It also stipulates that the centre should be signposted and should have staff accommodation provided within the facility.
Hours for operation are from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm or can open at the convenience of the community with the provision that the Health Post will be open for at least 8 hours every day.
At Mazan Gudu health post, all of the specifications for PHC are absent, no staff was seen talking more about keeping to hours of operation.
Usman Yusif, a local blockmaker who was passing by approached by this reporter said: “Everyone in this town is angry because this facility is dead and has caused a lot of difficulties and sad memories for us.
“The incident that remains fresh in our memories is the death of Dahiru who used to live in the premises of this PHC.”
Stallion Times learned that Dahiru Sule volunteered to keep watch of the PHC as the facility had been burgled in 2021 and mosquito nets meant for distribution in the community were carted away because the facility lacks fencing and security to keep watch over it.
Wondering why the health post is unkept, Yusif retorted: “If you give me N60, 000 I will mould blocks that will be enough to renovate this facility and even build an extra room.”
The purpose of setting up PHCs is to promote health service delivery at the grass level and where patients need specialised services, they are referred or connected with secondary care which in most cases are in the urban settlements.
Mazan Gudu Community Association Calls for Help
Wasulu Abdullahi, is the secretary of Mazan Gudu Community Development Association.
He said the group has started making little contributions towards renovating the PHC and stocking it with a first-aid, to prevent what happened to Dahiru.
“Renovating this health post and buying some essential commodities will cost us nothing less than N200, 000 and we have been making contributions since 2022 but we can only boast of N50,000.
Abdullahi called out for help…“On behalf of the association and the community members, we are pleading to charitable organisations or Non-Governmental Organizations to help us renovate this PHC and keep it running so that preventable deaths can be avoided,”
PHCs Poor State Relegates Women to Giving Birth at Home
In the Doka community, Tofa LGA, women have developed a preference for giving birth to children at home rather than visiting Doka PHC.
This is because a close observation showed that, the female ward is unkempt and their toilets are in an unusable state.
The white tiles have turned brown; cockroaches, ants, and wall geckos roamed about the toilet.
Interaction with a health worker showed that the facility lacks manpower and there is no stable Midwife.
This reporter also discovered that most of the medical equipment available was covered in dust as some lay fallow.
32-year-old, Sa’adatu Lawan, nearly lost her 7th child when she attempted to give birth to the baby at Doka PHC.
According to Sa’adatu, she had been persuaded by health workers who came for a sensitisation exercise at Doka to give birth to the baby at the hospital rather than opting for the services of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) when she was pregnant for the child.
“Because I was convinced that giving birth to my child in a health centre is safer than elsewhere, I agreed and on the day I was in labour, I went to Doka PHC.
“Surprisingly, the health worker there told me they did not have some kits to deliver the baby, so I went home to get some of the items.
“Walking back home was frustrating as I was in pain, though, the PHC is just about 200 meters away from my house.
“While walking home, I began to feel the intensity of the labour pain.
“Immediately I entered my house, the baby started coming out so I just had to lay on the floor of my room and cry for help.
“Thank God for my neighbours who quickly called an Unguwarzoma (Hausa word of TBA) who came and aided in the delivery of my child.
“From that day, I swore not to give birth to any of my children at the health facility,” Sa’adatu declared.
Sa’adatu’s neighbor Lami, is part of the women who would prefer to deliver their babies at home, not minding possible attendant risks.
According to her, the lack of manpower and the worsening condition of the centre is discouraging most women from birth at the centre.
Lami said the drug shelve at the facility is scanty with medicines
But Doka PHC officials maintained that they are not understaffed even though only 3 workers were seen when Stallion Times visited the facility.
According to the pharmacist in charge of the pharmaceutical department, Abdulmuni Saminu, the facility does not admit patients from 4:00 pm as the duration of service to the community is from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm daily.
He said: “We don’t have any patients currently, when the weather changes the people’s health changes and that is when they come to us.”
It seems Saminu is not telling the truth as his co-worker at the Laboratory who spoke anonymously said one of the reasons for low patronage of the PHC by community members is because the facility lacks adequate equipment to take care of patient’s needs.
He further revealed that the constant transfer of staff from the facility is another reason.
A discreet investigation by Stallion Times revealed that Doka PHC has 17 staff on the roaster, but this conflicted with what the reporter saw and what Saminu disclosed at the time of the visit to the centre.
Physical check findings by Stallion Times showed the facility had no patient on admission as the male and female wards were empty with dusty beds.
There was no power supply at the time of visiting and the poor hygienic conditions of the toilets were an eyesore. The surroundings of the PHC were bushy as it had been overgrown with grasses.
Also, there was no ambulance.
Like Doka, Like Achika
In Achika community in Wudil Local Government Area members disclosed to Stallion Times that they prefer accessing medical services from Yan Gargajiya (Traditional medicine doctors) and pregnant women have a preference for TBAs.
Fatima Yusuf, a former temporary staff of Achika Health Post said community members prefer the services of Yangargajiya.
She also disclosed that the health facility is under-equipped, which makes officials refer patients to any close hospital be it private or government-owned when confronted with serious health issues.
A community member who visited Yan Gargajiya after an accident. Photo: Stephen Enoch
She revealed that the major activities that are carried out in the facility are antenatal and immunization.
She narrated her experience: “A patient came with his wife to deliver their baby in September 2021. It was their first child and they opted for the services of a midwife rather than TBAs.
“At 7:00 am on that Thursday morning, Hassan rushed into Achika health post with his wife who was in labour. It was complicated and she could not give birth on her own.
“The sad thing was that the midwife who used to assist with deliveries sometimes was not around and her number was not reachable.
“Hassan’s wife was in labour from 7am to 4pm. I could feel her pain because she was in so much discomfort.
“Hassan was left with no option than to call a mid-wife but just when he came to tell us that a mid-wife was coming, his wife delivered a dead baby.”
This publication was supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) through Stallion Times under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
