Empty Health Centres VS. Community Pharmacies – Where Should Government Invest?

Across the country, governments spend billions of naira constructing Primary Health Care Centres in isolated, remote locations.

Beautifully painted structures, commissioned with pomp and pageantry.

But weeks after commissioning, these facilities become abandoned.

No doctors, no nurses, no electricity, no motorable road access to the centers , no patients.

Just empty buildings where weeds grow and animals take shelter.

The reason is simple – people do not go there. And we must ask ourselves, why?

The truth is, the health-seeking behaviour of Nigerians has changed.

Statistics show that over 90% of sick Nigerians first visit their neighbourhood pharmacy or chemist shop before ever thinking of a hospital.

For malaria, for typhoid, for headache, for body pains – the first call is the chemist man not a trained medical doctor. Why?

Because he is accessible, he is available 24 hours, he is close to the people, and he does not keep them waiting in long queues from morning till night.

So, if the people have chosen the community pharmacy as their first hospital, why is the government still investing heavily in buildings they will never use?

It is time for a strategic shift. The government should stop wasting scarce resources on empty structures and start investing in community pharmacies and licensed Patent Medicine Stores.

Here are five clear benefits of this approach

FASTER LIFE-SAVING INTERVENTION.

Community pharmacies are the first point of care. If the government trains, equips, and empowers them with genuine drugs and basic diagnostic tools, they will treat minor ailments promptly and save lives.

EFFECTIVE REFERRAL SYSTEM.

In extra cases, where the illness is severe and beyond their capacity, these trained community pharmacists can promptly refer patients and send them on admission to general hospitals for proper management.

This creates a functional, effective referral chain instead of patients dying at home.

ELIMINATION OF FAKE DRUGS.

If 90% of Nigerians buy drugs from pharmacies, then supporting and regulating these outlets means we can guarantee the quality of drugs our people consume and finally win the war against fake and substandard drugs.

COST-EFFECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE.

It costs hundreds of millions to build and equip one remote health centre that will still require doctors who may never resume there.

With the same amount, the government can support and upgrade 20 community pharmacies across different wards, reaching far more people with less money.

JOB CREATION AND COMMUNITY GROWTH.

Every community pharmacy employs two to three young people. By investing in them, the government is not only improving health, it is creating jobs and strengthening the local economy.

The point is clear. The government must go to where the people are, instead of forcing the people to go to where the government is.

Let us stop building monuments in the bush. Let us partner with registered community pharmacies, train them, support them with grants and quality drugs, and we will achieve universal health coverage faster.

If we train that community pharmacist, if we equip him with genuine drugs, if we support him with a small grant, he will save more lives than ten empty health centres in the bush!

And in extra cases, where the illness is severe and beyond his capacity, he will promptly refer the patient and send him on admission to the general hospital for proper care! That is how a functional health system works!

If we support community pharmacies, we will kill the market for fake drugs! Because 90 percent of our people buy from them, give them original drugs and the fake drug business will collapse!

It is cheaper to support 20 community pharmacies than to build one gigantic health centre that ends up as a shelter for goats!

And hear this, every single pharmacy employs two to three of our young people! Support pharmacies and you are creating jobs! You are reducing unemployment and crime!

The government must come down from the high table and come to the street! Partners with registered community pharmacies, train them, empower them, and healthcare will reach every corner of Edo State!

Because healthcare is not in the beauty of the building, healthcare is in the quality of the service.