The Anambra State Government has urged local government authorities to strengthen grassroots leadership, improve coordination and provide adequate resources to expand routine immunisation coverage and access to essential healthcare in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
The call was made at a one-day engagement meeting organised by the Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA), in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health and development partners, in Awka.
The meeting brought together local government mayors, Supervisory Councillors for Health, Directors of Primary Health Care from the state’s 21 local government areas, development partners and other health-sector stakeholders to review immunisation and primary healthcare performance and identify gaps in service delivery.
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The Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, urged local government leaders to provide the logistics and resources needed to support vaccination teams, particularly in communities with limited access to healthcare.
Obidike emphasised the importance of grassroots leadership in ensuring that eligible children and other target populations received essential vaccines, highlighting the need for effective coordination and sustained local government support.
The Executive Secretary of ASPHCDA, Dr Chizoba Ezeasor, explained that the Primary Health Care Under One Roof policy was designed to promote coordination, integration, efficiency and unified management of primary healthcare services.
Ezeasor urged mayors to prioritise primary healthcare through effective leadership, adequate resource allocation, regular oversight and community engagement. She also stressed the importance of local government support for health facilities in delivering essential services.
The meeting reviewed routine immunisation and primary healthcare performance, identified service-delivery gaps, assessed disease surveillance and outbreak-response mechanisms, and clarified the responsibilities of local government leaders in strengthening healthcare delivery.
Participants also examined strategies to strengthen local government task forces on primary healthcare revitalisation and immunisation, while improving collaboration among political leaders, health officials, development partners and communities.
Technical presentations were delivered by the World Health Organisation’s Anambra State Coordinator, Dr Bonos Mohammed; the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Health, Dr Obiageli Uchebo; ASPHCDA Director of Community Health Services, Dr Ngozi Okeke; State Immunisation Officer, Mrs Edith Onwuka; and State Epidemiologist, Dr Chuma Emembolu, among other experts.
