Organisation set to unveil initiative to boost accountability in Nigeria’s primary healthcare system

A civic technology organisation, Orodata Science, is set to unveil a tool designed to enhance transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s primary healthcare system.

The organisation made this known in a statement issued Friday, stating that the platform will encourage sub-national participation in governance while strengthening health institutions.

According to the statement, for over a decade, the organisation has been harnessing the power of data science, technology, and research to champion fiscal transparency and accountability in Nigeria, driving positive change through informed advocacy.

CheckMYPHC

According to the statement, the platform, ‘CheckMYPHC’, aims to empower stakeholders, including government officials, journalists, citizens, and healthcare professionals, with access to comprehensive data on the status of primary health centres across the country.

Orodata said the platform enables users to explore primary health centre status by state and local government.

It said: “CheckMYPHC was developed under the African Data Hub (ADH) initiative and is part of a larger project called My PHC Project, which has three facets: the frontline data collection programme, the frontline investigative programme, and the digital platform called Check MyPHC.

“On the platform, users can explore the status of primary health centres by state and local governments across Nigeria, download data, and request more. They can also search for specific primary health centres (PHC) in their communities, compare them with one in another community, and view key insights on building structure, infrastructure, personnel, and more.”

The organisation said the platform has a crucial feature enabling users to submit feedback based on their experiences at a Primary Health Centre (PHC), adding that it allows community champions and organisations to record ongoing, real-time information about the condition of PHCs in their areas, informing targeted interventions to restore neglected and abandoned healthcare facilities across Nigeria.

“With the recent claim by the Nigerian government of disbursing over N12 billion to NPHCDA Gateway through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), non-state actors need to support stakeholders with essential baseline healthcare data necessary for effective service delivery through optimised resource allocation, tracking of spending, and strengthening the feedback loop between the government and citizens,” the statement reads in part.

It further stated that the inaugural version of the CheckMYPHC platform boasts an extensive dataset comprising primary health centres from six states, representing all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

Specifically, the platform features data from Sokoto, Taraba, Benue, Cross River, Anambra, and Osun, “providing invaluable insights into the current state of over 345 primary health centres in these challenging, hard-to-reach areas.”

READ ALSO: Nigerian president approves management unit for health investment initiative

It explained that the initial dataset spans the North-central, North-east, North-west, South-west, South-east, and South-south zones, offering a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare landscape in these regions.

It said building on this foundation, the upcoming second phase of data collection aims to substantially augment the platform’s coverage, targeting over 1,000 primary health centres across 16 states, adding that the expansion is slated to begin promptly after the launch, thereby significantly amplifying the platform’s reach and effectiveness.