Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole says primary health care is not the responsibility of the Federal Government but that of local governments.

While fielding questions from journalists on Wednesday, Mr. Adewole said the Federal Government’s role in health care delivery is mostly limited to coordinating the affairs of University Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres while the state and local governments handle the general hospitals and primary healthcare centres respectively, in line with Federal Government regulation through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

“When you say primary health care projects, are you talking about federal? Because PHC is not under us, it’s under local governments. Why we made PHC a focus is just because we just have to take care of it. But normally, PHC is not the responsibility of federal government,” Adewole said.

While Adewole’s assertion draws support from the Constitution, it is however in conflict with the Nigerian Senate which on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to put primary health care facilities across the country in good shape.

The Senate made the call after going through a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF that 145 women and over 2,300 children under the age of five die daily in Nigeria due to the dilapidated and inadequate primary health care facilities in the country.

The Senate asked its appropriation committee to ensure that funds were earmarked to make all the primary healthcare centres across the country functional.