CHAN: Reaching the Unreached with Health

Christian Health Association of Nigeria (CHAN)

The Christian Health Association of Nigeria (CHAN), has been in the vanguard of providing health services to both rural and urban dwellers in the past 40 years of its humanitarian work in the country, Godwin Haruna writes

With mission hospitals distributed in all nooks and crannies of the country, the Christian Health Association of Nigeria (CHAN) has been the refuge of the ordinary man in terms of his health care needs. Most often, the mission health institutions are famous for their efficient and affordable health services, thereby attracting both the lowly and the affluent. With its motto: “Reaching the Unreached”, CHAN partner organisations operate in some of the remotest communities across the country where the primary health care delivery system of the government cannot reach.

Speaking to THISDAY recently, Secretary General of CHAN, Dr. Daniel Gobgab said historically, clinics run by the faith-based networks in the country had played an important role in providing health care in rural, hard-to-reach areas. Gobgab said CHAN has provided both technical and managerial skills to these institutions to enable them cope with the demands of providing service to their clientele.

He said CHAN was founded in 1973 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, the Christian Council of Nigeria and the Northern Christian Medical Advisory Council (known as the Founding Fathers). “Its' original function was primarily to represent the views of Nigerian Voluntary Medical Organisations to the government, advising on the integration of these organisations in the overall planning of government and acting as a central point for an exchange of views and expression of new ideas.

“Today, CHAN is a not-for-profit service organisation, coordinating church-sponsored health care throughout Nigeria. In accordance with its mission, CHAN assists its member institutions (MIs) in reaching more people, especially the unreached with health services in Nigeria that are of good quality, affordable and patient friendly. Its members see themselves as continuing the healing ministry of Christ by providing good quality and affordable health services to those in need, irrespective of religious affiliation. As an umbrella organisation, CHAN facilitates cooperation among its members from 23 major churches on health matters at local, state and federal levels. It builds their capacity to better serve the health needs of the people of Nigeria, irrespective of the gender, ethnic origin or religious affiliations. Its greatest achievement is to have brought diverse Christian denominations, showing both ecumenical unity and the will to act effectively with one voice. Although, the CHAN umbrella association promotes best practices among its members and offers guidelines for health care, MIs are autonomous and free to prioritise and adapt guidelines in their operational situations,” Gobgab stated.

He said CHAN’s MIs constitute the oldest and largest health care institutions in Nigeria, second only to the government. According to him, CHAN might be responsible for at least 40 percent of health care provision in Nigeria, especially in the rural areas.

The scribe said the organisation had depended on donor agencies such as the Christian Aid, Global Fund; United States Agency for International Development (USAID), DFID, and other agencies to implement some of the health needs of the MIs. However, he said because of “donor fatigue” in recent times, funds to the association have been depleting. This, he added, has led to a scaling down of operations and even laying off some of its secretariat staff.

In its desire to diversify its revenue sources, he said CHAN went on to establish the CHAN Drug Supply services (now CHANMedi-Pharm) in 1979. Supported by grants from Northern donors, CHANMedi-Pharm soon became a source of safe, quality and affordable drugs to its members. He added that CHANMedi-Pharm operates as a separate entity in order to ensure the sustainability of its operation. In the same year, Primary Health Care Services (PHCS) was set up to collect and disseminate information and to help members improve their holistic Primary Health Care Services (PHCS).

According to the Director of Advocacy and Information Management System, Mr. David Omorebokhae, CHAN currently has almost 400 MIs, comprising: 140 hospitals, 187 clinics delivering maternal and primary health care, 23 rural health programmes and 4 leprosaria. In total, he said the MIs operate some 4,000 outreach health facilities, many of which are situated in remote rural areas, fulfilling CHAN’s stated objectives of “Reaching the Unreached”.

“MIs operate throughout the country reaching some of the remotest areas in most cases, they represent the only health care facilities available to the communities living there. Among its members, CHAN can boast of the oldest health institutions in Nigeria; the Sacred Heart Hospital, Lantoro Abeokuta, Ogun State, which was established in 1880 by the Catholic French Society of African Missions, to cater for the needs of a leper colony. Today, its extensive staff includes 120 nurses, 14 doctors and it operates four out-stations,” Omorebokhae said.

He said CHAN’s services are administered through the four (4) geographical zones (A, B, C and D) with zonal headquarters in Numan, Jos, Emekuku and Ibadan respectively. He said some of CHAN’s operations/projects are managed from the Annex Office in Abuja while all activities are coordinated by  the secretariat in Jos, Plateau State with the secretary general as the chief executive.

Speaking further on the activities of the organisation in the last 40 years, Gobgab said CHAN had started the treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS even before the intervention of the federal government when the impact of the pandemic hit Nigeria. He said the programme was scaled up when it attracted funds from PEPFAR and Global Funds.
“USAID looked to the largest network of faith-based facilities in the country to take on the prime role in rolling out HIV care and treatment in faith-based facilities and communities they serve through the NICaB project. With CHAN’s extensive national network of member institutions, it would function as a multiplier organisation to transfer skills to other local bodies.

“This, however, was unique arrangement. USAID had never granted directly to a Nigerian organisation to build capacity for ART service delivery. Nor had Nigeria ever attempted to provide comprehensive HIV services in primary health facilities that had few, but not all the requirements of a secondary facility. But CHAN was taking on this formidable challenge alone. CHAN was in the early stages of working with a mentor, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), who would join NICaB to help it build its management systems, improve service delivery and effectively build the capacity of other Nigerian organisations,” the CHAN scribe stated.

He said the partnership worked well and many MIs benefitted immensely. He added that not only were their personnel trained, their institutions were equipped with the most modern facilities to deliver health care seamlessly. Gobgab said at 40, CHAN can beat its chest and proclaim loudly its enormous contributions to health care delivery in the country. He further promised: “We will not rest on our oars until we get governments at all tiers to provide subvention to our MIs to assist them run their facilities for vulnerable Nigerians.” He commended state governments that have taken a lead on this and appealed to others still procrastinating to join CHAN MIs in providing quality health care to Nigerians.