The Kwara State Government on Thursday said contracts worth N5 billion has been awarded for the upgrade of 70 primary healthcare facilities in the three senatorial districts of the state.

Executive Secretary, Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Prof. Nusirat Elelu, made the disclosure in Ilorin at the contract-signing event.

Ms Elelu stated that the intervention would include infrastructural upgrade, solarisation, provision of staff quarters, potable water supply and supply of ultra-modern hospital equipment across all benefitting PHC facilities.

She said, “The intervention is coming with the support of the World Bank supported Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Progress and Transforming Services (IMPACT) project. It will make PHC facilities better positioned to provide quality and improved services across the state. “The overall objective is to make all the PHC facilities ‘fit for purpose’ since the system is the first contact with the national health system.’’

She implored the successful bidders to ensure they delivered high quality standards to justify the trust reposed in them.

Ms Elelu warned that any contractor found wanting would have his contract terminated immediately.

The executive secretary also said that the contracts would be supervised closely to ensure judicious use of the investment made in the project.

She stated, “This is part of the efforts of the state government to revitalise the PHC system in the state. Fifty-three PHCs had earlier been renovated, while nine PHCs are presently under renovation. More facilities will still be renovated by the government in the near future. This is a further demonstration of the commitment of the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to the PHC system. Similarly, some 1,005 PHC workers, including doctors, were recently recruited into the system to ensure availability of adequate human resources to man these facilities.’’

Also, the IMPACT Programme Manager, Dr. Michael Oguntoye, said the contract was to be delivered within three months, while undue delay in the implementation of the project would not be tolerated.

Mr Oguntoye said that the PHC upgrade was one out of the several interventions the state was benefitting from the IMPACT project, aimed at reducing maternal, child morbidity and mortality.

He added that the primary beneficiaries of the IMPACT project were under-five children and women, noting that the project’s interventions would also improve access to health services for all residents in the state.

The manager said IMPACT would also strengthen national monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as contribute to demand generation and service quality improvement nationally.

(NAN)