PRIMARY HEALTHCARE ACCESS AND UTILISATION IN THE JERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BORNO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Primary healthcare services are vital for determining a nation's overall health
status. Improving access to and use of healthcare can lead to better health outcomes in the
population. We investigated access to and utilisation of primary healthcare services in the
Jere local government area of Borno State, Nigeria. Questionnaires were distributed, and
interviews were conducted to collect the data. We analysed the results via descriptive
statistics (frequency distribution tables). Availability sampling, a nonprobability sampling
method, was used to administer 400 questionnaires to the respondents, and 292
questionnaires were returned. Most participants were young (44.50%), unmarried (87.7%),
and highly literate, with 93.50% receiving tertiary education. Approximately 47.60% found
healthcare inaccessible, 42.10% found it accessible, and 10.30% were undecided. A total of
51.0% used healthcare facilities, 33.2% did not, and 14.0% were undecided. A total of 38.4%
visited health centers, 19.9% opted for traditional medicine, 3.4% sought treatment from
religious leaders, and 34.9% used a combination of these resources. A total of 44.5%
preferred modern medicine, 36.0% used herbs, 17.8% turned to prayers, and 1.7% sought
blessings from elders. Therefore, the study recommends that the state and local government
authorities provide a comprehensive approach encompassing infrastructural development,
health education, awareness programs, staff training, and recruitment that collectively
improve the primary healthcare services in the Jere local government area.