Identification and Mapping of Health Facilities in Bukuru Town, Plateau State Nigeria

Abstract

This study identified and mapped health care facilities within Bukuru Town in order assess the effectiveness of the health care facilities. The list of registered health care facilities was obtained from the Ministry of Health and by identifying and locating their locations. These were achieved with the aid of scientific tools of remote sensing GPS and GIS for an updated map, where the research discovered twenty one (21) health facilities. Questionnaires using the Survey Available Mapping structure (SAM) is used to gather data concerning their categories. The results showed that only one (1) attained the tertiary level, four (4) PHCs while others at health Center level, thus, were uneven distributed (scattered) and insufficient as expected by the policy. The classifications were based on equipment, staff strength and patients’ response to the provision of the health care facilities. There were two (2) government owned and nineteen (19) private health care facilities covering distance of 5 to 200 km in terms of patronage. In order to bring about the desired changes to promote the wellbeing of the people of Bukuru town with estimated population of 168, 275, the research recommended strategies towards attaining the desired goal of effective provision and distribution of health care facilities, such as all health providers to strictly adhere to the policies of the provision, upgrading health facilities to competent health facilities in their true sense and strategy of distribution with the need to improve the additional secondary level of health care in Bukuru Town.