Some Principles Regarding Primary Health Care Somalia Inhabitants May Find Useful

By Joshua Bennett


Primary health care, PHC, goes beyond just treating a patient or an illness. It entails the community as a whole. It also brings in stakeholders in government and other relevant places in order to improve the healthcare system in general. As such, PHC provides wholesome treatment to individuals in the society. These are some of the facts about primary health care Somalia policy makers may benefit from.

Equitable distribution of resources is one of the key features of PHC. People all over the world differ in terms of race, sex, gender, geographical area and economic status. None of this should form a basis for providing services to individuals. Instead, people should be treated equally, based on the resources available in a country.

PHC can only work efficiently if the community actively participates in it. Participation is usually in the form of attending health education sessions and putting into practice what is learned from the sessions. Education opportunities can be provided by local service providers. The local healthcare system can also collaborate with outside professionals to share knowledge in the community. One of the essential issues emphasized in such forums include keeping the environment clean. This means disposing of waste matter in appropriate places and clearing bushes around places where people live.

Developing the health workforce is another way in which healthcare can be made universal. Healthcare workers including nurses, doctors, laboratory technicians, physiotherapists, among others should be available in within a couple of kilometers of every village. This is to ensure that patients receive attention as soon as they need it. The concerned stakeholders (government and non-governmental organizations), therefore, need to train and employ more healthcare workers in a bid to achieve this.

Diagnosis and management of disease requires the use of technology. The technology needs to be affordable to the clients using it. It also needs to be effective and free of any adverse effects. The concerned personnel should know how to operate it well without facing major challenges. Running such equipment in the rural areas may not be feasible because of challenges such as poor socioeconomic status, lack of resources to train personnel and unavailability of electricity.

Without a doubt, a successful PHC program is one that is multidisciplinary in nature. Some of the other vital disciplines include agriculture, educations, community organizations and the technical sector. The agricultural sector aims at ensuring that the community has a lasting food solution. Malnutrition is a serious condition that results if the society is not fed with the enough portions and enough types of food in the diet. The engineering sector facilitates accessibility to facilities and ensures that electrical power is available.

Over the years, PHC has undergone tremendous changes in a bid to achieve set targets. One of the changes that primary health care has gone through is coming up with what is known as selective PHC. In this concept, the targets are customized to the community in question. Set goals are more measurable and specific, based on availability of resources. It encompasses principles such as breastfeeding, monitoring of growth in children, immunization, family planning, among other indicators.

In a nutshell, achieving universal health care calls for commitment, positivity and patience among other attributes. It goes beyond just providing cure to diseases in hospitals. PHC involves other sectors in a bid to ensure that all members of the society are free of disease. Primary healthcare is a concept that should, therefore, be fully embraced.




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