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Journal of Primary Health Care & General Practice

Aabstract


Research Article

How Ready are the Ward Development Committees to Facilitate Universal Health Coverage in Ebonyi State, Nigeria?

Oyari Felix Ogbonnia Oko*, Ogbonnaya Lawrence Ulu, Ota Martins Matthew Okechukwu and Azuogu Benedict

Correspondence Address :

Felix Oyari,
Department of Community Medicine,
University of Abuja Teaching Hospital,
Nigeria,
Tel: +234 7034548509,
Email: felixoyari@yahoo.com

Received on: 13 April, 2017 , Accepted on: 26 April, 2017 , Published on: May 3, 2017

Citation: Oyari Felix Ogbonnia Oko, Ogbonnaya Lawrence Ulu, Ota Martins Matthew Okechukwu,and Azuogu Benedict (2017). How Ready are the Ward Development Committees to Facilitate Universal Health Coverage in Ebonyi State, Nigeria?

Copyright: 2017 Oyari Felix Ogbonnia Oko, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

  • Abstract

Abstract
Background: The commitment to universal health coverage (UHC), requires a strong community-participation. In December 2000, Nigeria adopted the Ward Development Committees (WDC) as a framework to institutionalise community participation. WDC high performance is critical to making progress in UHC. This study aims to assess the efficiency of the WDC in fostering community participation and identify factors that hinder their performance in communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Methods: This study was a an analysis based on questionnaire, focus group discussions/key informant interviews, performed as controlled intervention study conducted in six rural communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Assessment was done by gathering information from record books in the health facility, minute books of the WDC, and from the focus group discussions and key informant interviews using standard guides. Study participants included WDC members, health workers and the council of elders from the communities. 
Results: WDCs existed in 7 (39%), 6 (25%) and 4 (29%) of the wards in Izzi, Ikwo and Ivo local government areas respectively. The WDCs' functionality was poor (score below 9 out of 36) in all the wards at the baseline assessment, and became fair (10 to 18 out of 36) after intervention in the intervention wards. However, the performance remained poor both before and after intervention in the control wards. Members of the WDC expressed dissatisfaction with the weak human and infrastructural resources at the health facility, and this demotivated them from efficiently performing their role despite the community- driven incentives introduced.
Conclusion: A major weakness has been identified in availability and efficiency of the WDC in all the communities studied. This is likely to compromise effective delivery of essential health care services. Therefore, urgent attention should be given to close the existing gaps in the national health systems to make the desired progress in the UHC possible in Nigeria.
Keywords: Community participation, Ward Development Committee, Universal Health Coverage