Where Patients Should Find Care, Reptiles Now Find Shelter: Inside a Neglected Health Centre in Imo

By Blessing Iriaka

Primary healthcare  centres are  designed to bring essential health services closer to where people live. It is where communities should be able to access basic treatment, preventive services, health education, immunisation and maternal and child healthcare, with referral to higher-level facilities when necessary.

The World Health Organization describes primary healthcare as a people-centred approach that brings essential services closer to people's everyday environments. It also identifies accessible primary healthcare as a foundation for achieving universal health coverage. 

In Ikpaeze Uno, Arondizuogu, Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, a building meant to provide healthcare to members of the community is now surrounded by thick vegetation, raising questions about the fate of a public health facility and the people it was supposed to serve.

The facility built as a place of care now looks isolated from the very people it was meant to serve, with tall grasses, weeds and creeping vegetation spreading across its surroundings. 

According to a community member who brought the situation to our attention, the primary healthcare centre has been abandoned for so long that reptiles and other crawling creatures have reportedly found shelter in the premises. 

"A facility intended to provide care for human beings, has become a potential hiding place for creatures that should never have to compete with patients for space"

How does a community health facility reach a state where its future appears to have been surrendered to the bush, and who is responsible for bringing it back to life?

The grasses have grown tall around the building, partly obscuring its walls and narrowing the distinction between the facility and the surrounding vegetation. The building itself appears to remain standing, but its present condition raises questions about maintenance, security, access and whether it still provides any health services.

A health facility cannot be considered functional, if it's not accessible, adequately staffed, supplied with essential medicines and equipment, maintained and capable of providing appropriate care.

Primary healthcare in Nigeria involves several levels of government and health institutions. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency provides technical and programmatic support, while state and local health authorities have important roles in planning, managing, supervising and delivering primary healthcare services.

The Federal Government has also continued to provide funding through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, established under the National Health Act 2014, to support access to essential healthcare and strengthen primary healthcare delivery. 

In October 2025, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare announced an approved ₦32.9 billion disbursement under a revised framework intended to support more than 8,000 primary healthcare centres nationwide.

This national funding commitment does not establish that Ikpaeze Uno's facility received any allocation, nor does it prove that funding was mismanaged in this case. 

Nevertheless, the reported condition of the building makes it necessary to establish which public authority is responsible for it, whether it has received government funding, and whether any rehabilitation or revitalisation plans cover the facility.

If funds have previously been allocated to its construction, renovation, staffing or maintenance, the public deserves to know what was delivered.

If the facility was never fully commissioned, that too should be established. And if it once provided services but subsequently became inactive, residents deserve an explanation of when and why that happened.

Community members have expressed concern about what they see as the deterioration of a facility intended to serve them. Their concerns deserve to be heard.

Imagine a child in Ikpaeze Uno suddenly develops a high fever or suffers an injury that requires urgent medical attention. Where does the family turn if the community's primary healthcare centre is overgrown and no longer accessible for treatment?

How many community members can afford private hospitals in Ikpaeze Uno and the surrounding settlements? How far must they travel to reach another functioning health facility? Where do pregnant women seek antenatal care? Must  residents rely on private clinics, travelling to another community, or using other alternatives?

A health facility's proximity to a community is important precisely because primary healthcare is intended to reduce barriers between people and essential services.

When a local facility is no longer available, the burden of finding alternatives may fall disproportionately on residents with limited resources or mobility.

The Imo State Government, the state primary healthcare authorities and the relevant health officials in Ideato North should clarify the facility's operational status, identify the authority responsible for its management, and explain what measures are planned to address the reported deterioration.

The community also deserves to know whether rehabilitation is planned, whether the facility can safely resume services, and what arrangements exist for residents who need healthcare in the meantime.

If the building is to serve its intended purpose again, its physical condition, staffing, equipment, medicines, water and sanitation, security and ongoing maintenance must all be assessed.

For development partners and health-focused organisations working to strengthen primary healthcare in Nigeria, the situation offers a reason to ask a broader question, how can communities identify facilities that have fallen out of use, establish why they became inactive, and ensure that rehabilitation efforts translate into actual services for residents?

A building can be repaired. Vegetation can be cleared. Equipment can be supplied. But lasting improvement requires a functioning system, clear responsibility and sustained attention to the needs of the people who depend on it.

For the residents of Ikpaeze Uno, the question remains, when will a place built to provide healthcare be restored to a condition where the community can once again depend on it?