Group seeks end to health workers’ absenteeism in PHCs

The Health Policy Research Group from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka has appealed to the Enugu State Government to intensify action to address health workers’ absenteeism in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Enugu State.

The Coordinator of the group, Obinna Onwujekwe, made the appeal on Thursday during a programme, Stakeholders’ Policy Dialogue on addressing health workers’ absenteeism and strengthening accountability in PHC facilities in Enugu.

Mr Onwujekwe, a professor, also urged the government to strengthen accountability in PHCs across the state.

He said the dialogue provided an opportunity for the representatives of the Enugu State Ministry of Health, Primary Healthcare Agency, National Health Insurance Authority, community leaders and media professionals to brainstorm on addressing health workers’ absenteeism at PHCs.

The coordinator said the dialogue was organised to present research findings and engage policymakers and other stakeholders on practical measures to reduce absenteeism among health workers.

He stressed that the research identified transportation challenges, inadequate workplace support and limited community involvement as some of the issues contributing to absenteeism in PHC facilities.

Mr Onwujekwe explained that the group prioritised three interventions capable of improving health workers’ attendance and service delivery.

He explained that the decision to prioritise the interventions followed extensive consultations with relevant individuals and bodies.

“One of the findings is that providing transportation support to health workers, especially those serving in remote communities, will encourage them to report to work regularly.

“We also discovered that providing support systems within health facilities, where colleagues support one another, can improve attendance.

“Community involvement is equally important because when communities participate in monitoring healthcare services, it helps to strengthen accountability,” he said.

The coordinator said the research demonstrated that combining the three interventions could significantly reduce absenteeism and improve healthcare delivery.

He explained that the policy dialogue was intended to translate research evidence into practical government policies and programmes.

“We have conducted a study and generated evidence. What we are doing today is bringing stakeholders together to discuss how this evidence can be translated into policies and practice.

“We are talking about evidence-based policymaking, where decisions are guided by research findings rather than assumptions.

“Our expectation is that the government and other policymakers will take renewed action to ensure that these interventions are implemented across the state,” he said.

The coordinator expressed optimism that implementing the recommendations would ensure that residents seeking medical attention at PHC facilities would meet health workers on duty.

He acknowledged that although Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State had invested heavily in building of PHCs, the research and policy dialogue would help ensure that health workers were constantly on duty at the facilities.

“Our research is complementary to the efforts of the state government because we want to ensure that the health centres being constructed are not left without health workers.

“We expect the government to utilise this evidence to strengthen its interventions against absenteeism,” he said.

Mr Onwujekwe praised the state government’s introduction of a clock-in system to monitor health workers’ attendance at PHCs.

The coordinator argued that the introduction of the clock-in system was a recognition of the challenges posed by absenteeism.

He said addressing the problem requires multiple strategies beyond attendance monitoring.

“The evidence we have produced will further help the governor and the state primary health care development agency to reduce absenteeism in PHCs,” he said.

Pamela Ogbozor, a research associate, presented the research findings, explaining that the intervention ran from August 2025 to January 2026 in four PHC facilities in Nsukka, Igbo-Etiti, Enugu North and Nkanu West Local Government Areas.

Ms Ogbozor stressed that eight other facilities served as control locations, where the researchers did not introduce the interventions.

She said 100 per cent of health workers in intervention facilities regularly completed attendance registers, compared with 90 per cent in control facilities.

The research associate said the study also recorded that 15.4 per cent of workers in intervention facilities left before their shifts ended, compared with 48 per cent in control facilities.

She listed types of absenteeism to include workers failing to report for duty, arriving late or leaving before the end of their shifts.

The researcher warned that absenteeism could expose patients to complications, death and workload with few on duty.

A representative of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission in the dialogue, Stephen Obi, said absenteeism and ghost workers were serious challenges to healthcare delivery.

“Absenteeism and ghost workers go together and to the commission, it is a serious challenge,” he said.

Mr Obi said the dialogue had provided valuable information which he would be taken back to the commission.

One of the participants in the dialogue, Alex Ugwu, lauded the programme.

Mr Ugwu, who is the chairman of the Ward Development Committee at Hilltop PHC Ngwo, told reporters after the programme that the initiative had broadened their knowledge about ways of tackling absenteeism at PHCs.

“This programme has helped us to know the places to improve on to address absenteeism in the health sector across Enugu State and beyond,” he said.

He hailed the research group, explaining that the outcome of previous research had resulted in government policies that improved healthcare service delivery in his community’s PHC.