UTILIZATION AND FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCESS TO MODEL PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTER, AJIOLO ABOKOCHE DEKINA LGA, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

The International Conference on primary health care  was held in Alma-Ata, USSR on the twelfth day of September in the year Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-eight. Primary health care is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system. Primary health care addresses the main health problems in the community, providing education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them, promotion of food supply and proper nutrition, adequate provision of safe water and basic sanitation.  Other services provided include maternal and child health including family planning, immunization against the major infectious diseases, prevention and control of locally endemic diseases, appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries and provision of essential drugs. The four types of health facility that provides primary health care services in Nigeria are health post, basic health clinic, primary health centre and comprehensive health centre. The main objective of the study was to determine utilization and factors influencing access to primary health care services in model primary health centre, Ajiolo-Abokoche, Dekina LGA, Kogi Sate, Nigeria. It was a descriptive cross sectional study, conducted between 24th 7 August 2015 and 25 September 2015.  Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Dekina Local Government Authorities, while informed consent was taken from all attendees at the Centre.  Instruments of data collection were semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaires, focus group discussion and medical records at the Model PHC Ajiolo-Abokoche.  Pre-testing of the data collection instruments was done at the Primary healthcare centre Makutu Isanlu,  Yagba  East Local government Area, Kogi State. Four hundred questionnaires were administered using a Multistage sampling technique.  Data entry, validation and analysis were carried out using the statistical package for social science