The Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM) says inadequacy of ambulances and dearth of health personnel were the major challenges hampering smooth running of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Kaduna State.

According to KADMAN, its investigations showed that 78.5 per cent of PHCs in the state have no ambulance.

KADMAM, an accountability mechanism, stated this in its presentation through Mr. Silas Iseva during a quarterly interactive forum with Kaduna State Ministry of Health and Development Partners, held in Kaduna on Tuesday

The theme of the interactive forum was “Improving Health Care Delivery Through Basic Health Care Provision Fund Implementation”.

It noted that inadequacy of ambulances to transport pregnant women to hospitals during emergency situations had resulted in complications and sometimes death.

It said its findings, however, discovered that 93 per cent of the PHCs across the state had toilets, 27.1 per cent had accommodation for midwives for emergencies, especially at night, and 84.6 per cent had good sources of drinking water.

In spite of the challenges, KADMAM however commended the Kaduna State government for its efforts in addressing major problems PHCs face, but called for intensified efforts to make health services affordable and accessible for all the people.

Responding to some of the findings, the Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Amina Baloni, said government would reactivate its partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers in transporting emergency patients to facilities across the state.

Baloni called on members and community leaders to volunteer whenever the need arose to convey patients for medical care.

“We have plans on ground to buy more ambulances, and to repair the ones on ground at our PHCs,” she said.