Health
Lagos sets January 1 deadline for registration of 325 PHCs with HEFAMAA
Angela Onwuzoo
The Lagos State Government has ordered the registration of 325 Primary Healthcare Centres across the state with the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency by January 1, 2027, to ensure compliance with standards and quality of healthcare services for Lagosians.
The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed this on Wednesday in Ikeja, warning that no health facility in Lagos, whether private or government-owned, would be allowed to operate without a HEFAMAA logo, which signifies registration with the regulatory agency.
Abayomi noted that Lagos State is the only state in Nigeria with a regulatory agency specifically mandated to determine the quality of healthcare facilities.
According to him, Lagos has 325 PHCs spread across the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Areas and Local Council Development Areas in the state.
The commissioner spoke at the opening of a three-day workshop for the development of a three-year LGA/LCDA PHC Service Workplan 2027–2029.
The workshop was organised by the Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, with support from partners including EngenderHealth, the World Bank, Immunisation Plus, and the Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services Project, among others.
“There is no health facility in Lagos that should be operating without a HEFAMAA logo. Up until two years ago, though the government regulated itself, we felt it would be fair not to exempt public hospitals from accreditation. What we do in the private sector, we will also do in the public sector.
“Since last year, many of our general hospitals and our PHCs have been going through accreditation. There is a deadline of January 1, 2027, for all our PHCs, all our general hospitals, and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, to have the HEFAMAA logo,” he explained.
Participants were drawn from the 57 LGAs/LCDAs in the state as the programme seeks to strengthen primary healthcare services at the grassroots.
Abayomi described the HEFAMAA logo as an objective assessment of the quality of services delivered at a facility, stating that the agency also addresses patients’ complaints and monitors service quality.
According to him, HEFAMAA previously focused mainly on private healthcare facilities, but the same accreditation requirements must now be extended to public facilities.
He stressed that the HEFAMAA logo indicates that a facility has met the required standards for infrastructure and healthcare delivery.
“The private sector rightly asked why the same rigorous standards were not being applied to government facilities, while private facilities were being shut down or sanctioned for non-compliance.
“We considered the argument and realised that they were right. We should apply the same standards to government facilities. After all, charity begins at home. We have therefore made a conscious effort to ensure that all our government facilities meet HEFAMAA requirements,” he stated.
Abayomi said the objective of the workshop was to raise the standard of healthcare delivery at the grassroots through the primary healthcare platform.
“About 70 percent of healthcare delivery should be managed at the primary healthcare level. We therefore need to fix the primary healthcare platform in both the government and private sectors. I will continue to refer to both because we are not simply the government of the public sector; we are the government of Lagos State”, he said.
The commissioner said the three tiers of government must work together on strategy, human resources, funding and infrastructure to make the primary healthcare system function effectively and serve people at the grassroots.
In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Ibrahim Mustafa, said the state government had come a long way in strengthening the primary healthcare system, stressing that both the state and local governments had roles to play in providing healthcare at the grassroots.
“We are all custodians of healthcare service delivery at the grassroots, and we have very important roles to play. The council treasurers and council managers, I am sure, understand their roles in ensuring effective healthcare delivery at the grassroots.
“Although not all of you are doctors or healthcare practitioners, you understand the importance of the offices you hold in delivering healthcare services across your respective LGAs and LCDAs.
“We have indeed come a long way together, with your active involvement in strengthening primary healthcare systems.”
Mustafa said remarkable success could be achieved at the PHCs when all stakeholders worked together.
He said, “Our LGAs and LCDAs have witnessed significant improvements in healthcare facilities, infrastructure and equipment, with many of you providing the necessary guidance and support.
“Beyond this, we have also witnessed the employment of healthcare workers, even though the issue of brain drain continues to affect Lagos State and other states.
The Permanent Secretary said the workshop was another milestone in the state’s journey towards achieving health for all.
“We are not merely here to draft a work plan; we are here to consolidate the gains we have made over the years and identify areas where improvements are required.
“We are also expected to chart a clear and actionable path for the next three years. Our collective vision is to ensure that every ward, every community and every citizen of Lagos State has access to quality, affordable, accessible, acceptable, available and sustainable primary healthcare services,” he said.
He said the state government remained committed to ensuring adequate human resources across the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of healthcare delivery.
Also speaking, Executive Secretary, HEFAMAA, Dr Victoria Egunjobi, said primary healthcare was not inferior or substandard care.
Egunjobi said the Health Sector Reform Law that established HEFAMAA gave the agency the major responsibility of ensuring that whenever a resident walks into any health facility in Lagos State, whether public or private, the care received is of good quality and not inferior or substandard.
“We are the friendly police, and we are allowing our public facilities to comply because we also want to guarantee that residents who visit public facilities receive quality primary healthcare.
“Our duty is to set minimum standards that every health facility must meet. We inspect facilities where healthcare providers intend to practise. We examine the credentials of personnel, the equipment available and the physical environment.
“Once a facility meets the required standards, we register it, and its licence is renewed annually,” she said.
On the registration of all PHCs, the executive secretary said, “Because we are Lagos and because charity begins at home, we want to begin the process of working with all the local governments to ensure that all primary healthcare centres are registered with HEFAMAA.
“By January 1, we should be able to see the HEFAMAA logo in front of every primary healthcare centre.
“When we tell residents to look for the Lagos State-approved logo, we cannot have our own public facilities without it. Our public facilities are our pride and joy. We provide quality services. We are not an inferior or substandard healthcare system.”
She assured that the registration process was not difficult, stating that the logo indicates that the facility is a Lagos State Government-approved clinic.
“Everything can be done online through the HEFAMAA portal, and the agency is available to provide support to facilities experiencing challenges,” she added.
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