Hundreds find succour in Kano one-bed health centre

A single room shop donated by a community member in Kano State has become a place where locals receive treatment for sicknesses while waiting for further medical care.

Hundreds of women and children in Baita village of Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State receive medical attention in a shop equipped with a bed, which was later turned into a primary health centre, Weekend Trust reports.

Residents now find succour in this one-bed health centre since the only health facility in the village built in the 1990s by the government of Kabiru Gaya was abandoned by health workers and community members because of its dilapidated state, with the fear that its walls could give in at any time.

The health centre started operation when a community member, Hajiya Zuwaire Dalhatu donated the shop in her house to serve as a dispensary and treatment centre for people living in the area.

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She told Weekend Trust that the gesture gave her pleasure because people all over the village come to the centre for medical attention.

On why she donated her shop for use as a health facility, Hajiya Zuwaire said she feared that if nothing was done, the only government-owned health centre in the community may be relocated; hence there was the need to provide a temporary place.

“I did not want the clinic to be taken elsewhere, so I decided to donate the shop. We are happy to see people coming here to receive medical attention,” she said.

Baita village, located close to the Minjibir-Wasai dam, is a remote area that is prone to flood, making movement difficult for community members during the rainy season.

Women from neighbouring villages also attend the one-bed health centre for prenatal and antenatal care.

When Weekend Trust visited the village, a lot of women were being attended to in the small shop.

According to Nazifi Abdullahi, a health worker in charge of the facility, the centre has five workers and two volunteers.

He said that due to lack of adequate space, patients would sit on mats outside the shop waiting for their turns. He added that workers do not have any office to carry out their official duties.

Abdullahi said, “Women are attended to inside the shop, which is divided into a consultation room and the place where the bed is placed.”

He noted that most times, women are shy and would not submit themselves for physical examination in the open, adding, “We provide mats outside for them to sit while consultation takes place inside the shop.”

While listing lack of office accommodation and medical personnel as the biggest challenge the facility is facing presently, the health worker said malaria drugs are given free of charge under the rollback malaria programme.

He said the facility lacks adequate medical equipment and drugs; however, it has a stethoscope, thermometer and injury-dressing tools to treat minor cases.

A mother, Aliya Alkassim Baita, another community member who brought her baby for immunisation, said women in the area face difficulty getting the desired medical attention, especially on complicated cases.

The nursing mother told Weekend Trust that oftentimes they would go to Minjibir General Hospital in another community to treat cases the facility can’t handle.

“My appeal is for the government to rebuild and upgrade the health facility we have here. Sometimes we have to travel to Minjibir or Gezawa hospitals during emergencies. Many lives have been lost in the process, but if we had a well equipped hospital here, many of those lives would have been saved,” she said.

Another mother in the community, Zainab Abdullahi, said that in the last two years, women and children had been coming to the centre for medical attention. She noted that the place is inadequate and not conducive for both patients and health workers.

“I pity myself bringing my children to the health centre because there is no other place; I do not have any option.

“The health workers are also finding it difficult as the centre is not big enough to accommodate patients,” Zainab said.

Weekend Trust also noted that to encourage people to use the facility, monetary palliatives are given. 

Ibrahim Tahir, a field officer of the All Babies Are Equal (ABEA), noted that to encourage people, especially mothers, to come to the facility, they gave N1,000 to each woman who come for routine immunisation as  transport allowance. 

Alkassim Isyaku, the village head of Baita, appealed to the Kano State Government to come to their aid, saying the facility caters for many residents of the community and people from neighbouring villages.

“The facility caters for at least 8,000 people in Baita village alone. When you add women coming from villages like  Je-ka-da-Omo, Danziri, Kadawa, Warba, Daurawa, Galadimawa, Koya and Gargeri, the number could be over 10,000,” the village head said.

The ward head, Malam Baita Abdullahi, said the community’s primary health centre was abandoned nine years ago because it was no longer habitable, prompting the community to look for medical attention elsewhere.

The Baita village dispensary was built 33 years ago.

He expressed optimism that something would be done quickly, saying the Gezawa Local Government chairman and councillors visited the area to acknowledge the plight of the people.

Commenting on the facility, the chairman of Gezawa Local Government, Mukaddas Jogona, said his council had written to the state Ministry of Health asking for the upgrade of the facility to a 10-bed health centre.

“The facility was abandoned for nearly 10 years, but God willing, we will upgrade it to a 10-bed health centre to cater to the needs of the people in the area,” the chairman told our correspondent during a telephone conversation.