Primary Health Care in Nigeria: From Conceptualization to Implementation

¹Aigbiremolen, A.O., ¹Alenoghena, I., ²Eboreime, E., ¹Abejegah, C.

¹Department of Community Medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria.

²National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Abuja, Nigeria.

E-mail: drphonsus@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Primary Health Care (PHC) is a grass-root management approach to providing health care services to communities. Since the concept was first published in 1978, various countries have attained different levels of progress in implementing the strategy. This paper reviews the historical concepts that have driven primary health care in Nigeria. Current efforts at revitalizing primary health care in Nigeria include the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), PHC Reviews, National Health Management Information System (NHMIS), and the Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Week. In all, the role of the people, government, and health workers as critical stakeholders needs to be well defined and pursued in order to maximize the benefits of primary health care.