The importance of providing quality primary health care has been identified as a tool towards attaining preventive health care services.

The State Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Health, Dr Tomi Coker, made this known in Ijebu-Ode, during a workshop on the implementation of Minimum Service Packages (MSP), an initiative of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) meant to upgrade the health system at the grassroots.

The Special Adviser said majority of health care needs could be handled at the primary health care level, hence the need to place more priority in the sector, positing that 70 percent of the population lives in the rural areas.

“The overwhelming importance of primary health care is obvious because it is nearest to the people and through it health care needs of the people can easily be identified thus standing as a preventive mechanism to extensive health challenges which could require acute financial intervention”, she said.

Reteitrating the significance of MSP, Dr. Coker described the innovation as a good development that would help to upgrade the health system in the state, adding that it would make data to be easily accessible.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola implored stakeholders to ensure proper implementation of the MSP, noting that its domestication in the 20 Local Governments of the state would pave way for improved quality healthcare provisions.

Speaking, the State Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Kunle Ashimi affirmed that PHCs under one roof initiative would standardise healthcare services and make data generation accurate and accessible.

Contributing, the Chairman, National Association of the Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) in the State, Mrs. Roseline Solarin stated that the involvement of nurses in the implementation of the MSP could not be ignored, saying her colleagues in the States would put measures in place for its success.

Stakeholders at the workshop were the Health Educators, Nurses, Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Local Immunization Officers, among others.