Kwara State Government on Monday in Omu-Aran commenced a four-day intensive training of 158 health workers across the 16 local government area of the state on Primary Health Care (PHC) delivery.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr Nusirat Elelu, the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said the exercise was to ensure healthcare workers refresh their knowledge for optimal healthcare service in the state.
“The training is also to build capacity of participants on improved maternal and child health interventions, basic laboratory procedures and data management.
“This is the second capacity building in healthcare that the government is in investing on,” she said.
According to her, 175 healthcare facilities across the state, out of 193, have been accredited to access the National Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (NBHCPF).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the BHCPF is a component of the National Health Act of 2014, which is a federal and state funded initiative aimed at revitalising primary healthcare facilities across the country.
Read Also: WASH takes a back seat as Kwara govt embarks on PHCs renovation
The implementation of the fund began in 2019 after its inclusion in the fiscal budget in the preceding year by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Elelu explained that initially there were 158 basic healthcare facilities that were accredited, but the state government had improved on it and made additional 17 to make up 175 facilities accredited so far.
She noted that with more accredited health facilities, the more quarterly disbursement to ensure the facilities are up to standard.
Elelu expressed optimism about the mass training of health workers, saying it is a proud moment for the state government.
“Their training will afford conducive working environment for workers, as well as access to basic health equipment in respective facilitates.
“The state government had just concluded the training of 70 midwives across the LGAs in order to refresh their knowledge in post natal skills. This will also encourage people to utilize the PHCs.
“The PHCs are suppose to cater for the 70 percent health needs of the people, while 27 goes to the secondary healthcare facilities and three per cent to the tertiary.
“Unfortunately the reverse is what is happening. But with these kind of refresher training and practical training to support the efforts of the government, healthcare will be greatly improved,” she said.
Elelu enjoined the trainees to make judicious use of the knowledge they will acquire, while warning them against unethical practices capable of incurring heavy sanctions.
Dr Olubunmi Jetawo-Winters, the Executive Secretary of the state Health Insurance Agency, stressed the need for participants to be attentive and ensure data integrity for effective planning and policy making.
Read Also: Effective PHCs: Solacebase engages health stakeholders in Kwara
She warned the healthcare workers against manipulating data, adding that data integrity is crucial in decision making.
She pledged to get more enrollees into the State Health Insurance scheme.
Jetawo-Winters said that the training was a collaboration between the State and Federal Government, adding that a lot of funding had been committed to ensure actualisation of the programme.
Also speaking, Dr Raji Razak, the state Commissioner for Health, represented by the Deputy Director, Medical Services and Training, Dr Stephen Arigidi, stressed the need for collaboration amongst stakeholders to make PHCs facilities top choice for residents.
In his remark, Mallam Umar Bio, a stakeholder, commended the organisers and called for employment of more healthcare personnel across the state. (NAN)
Comments are closed.