Stakeholders Seek Stronger Systems to Preserve IntegratE Gains as Over 100 Additional Primary Healthcare Centres Near Operational Status.
Enugu Media Village (EMV), the Most Updated Online News Platform | October 5, 2026
The Enugu State Government and key health-sector partners are strengthening efforts to sustain gains recorded under the IntegratE Project, a major intervention that expanded access to family planning and reproductive healthcare services through community-based providers.
The five-year phase of the project in Enugu ran from October 2021 to July 2026, with stakeholders calling for the institutionalisation of successful strategies and stronger collaboration to ensure that the benefits continue beyond the project’s implementation period.
29,262 Women Accessed Family Planning Services
According to the project’s implementation report, 29,262 women in Enugu State accessed family planning services through trained Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors, while 14,541 referrals were made to public health facilities.
The intervention also involved Community Pharmacists and PPMVs, while introducing digital supportive supervision and contributing to the institutionalisation of a tiered accreditation system for participating providers.
Stakeholders said the experience demonstrated the potential of trained community-based healthcare providers to complement conventional primary healthcare facilities, particularly by bringing essential reproductive health services closer to residents.
Government Targets Expansion of Primary Healthcare Access
Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, said the state government would continue to expand access to healthcare while strengthening primary healthcare outcomes.
Ugwu disclosed that more than 100 additional primary healthcare centres are expected to become operational before the end of 2026, as part of efforts to improve access to quality healthcare services across communities.
The expansion is in addition to the state’s ongoing development of 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres, a programme identified by the state government as a major component of its healthcare infrastructure investment.
Stakeholders Call for Sustainability
Health-sector partners have emphasised that sustaining the gains of IntegratE will require stronger funding, effective supervision, improved data integration and functional referral systems.
The Society for Family Health and other partners have also highlighted the importance of formally integrating community-based providers into health information and referral systems to ensure continuity and accountability.
The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria and other professional stakeholders have reaffirmed their commitment to supporting quality service delivery, professional standards and responsible expansion of community-based healthcare.
Strengthening Healthcare at the Grassroots
The development reflects a broader effort to make primary healthcare more accessible to residents, particularly women, children and communities that depend heavily on nearby healthcare providers.
With the planned activation of additional primary healthcare centres and continued collaboration with development and health-sector partners, Enugu is seeking to strengthen the connection between community-based services, primary healthcare facilities and referral institutions.
For the Enugu State Government, the objective remains to build a healthcare system where access to quality services is increasingly available closer to where residents live.
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