Four years after Buhari's promise, Sokoto primary health centres still in ruins

Four years after Buhari’s promise, Sokoto primary health centres still in ruins

At dawn on August 15, 2021, Aisha Mohammed noticed Habib, her five-year-old son’s temperature was high and his bed sheet was badly soiled. He had vomited and stooled over the night.
Startled by the unexpected illness, she rushed to the open well outside the house to fetch half a bucket of water and dipped a piece of cloth in it which she used to gently massage his body, hoping it would put him to rest.
It did but for an hour. After that, the vomiting and stooling increased, coupled with restlessness. Left with no other option, she rushed to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in her community, Katanmi, and met 20 other patients with a similar condition.
The doctor diagnosed her son with cholera, which was said to have been caused by consumption of contaminated water.
At Mrs Mohammed’s home, the open well outside is just six metres away from their toilet and this is common in almost all the homes in the community, according to the health officials.
But the health facility’s poor state and inadequate medical supplies forced the doctor to refer her to the general hospital in Silame local government of Sokoto State, 20 minutes from Katanmi, which is a lot of time depending on the critical condition of the patient.

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