ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
The United States Government has donated training materials worth N500 Million to Bauchi and Sokoto States to help in improving health care delivery.
The intervention, which was done through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is aimed at improving the Clinical Competencies of Primary Health Care Workers in delivering Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Nutrition and Malaria Services.
The Health, Population and Nutrition Office Director, USAID, Paul McDermott, presented the training materials to the Commissioner of Health, Bauchi state, Dr Aliyu Maigoro and that of Sokoto State, Dr Mohammed AliIname respectively, at a virtual event monitored in Bauchi.
In his speech during the presentation at an event attended by senior government officials from the two States said: “At the center of the United States Government commitment to supporting Nigeria strengthen its health system at the primary care level, is the need for availability of highly trained and motivated frontline health workforce.
“To sustain this, the state governments will need to equitably provide qualified health workers.”
The USAID Director added that through the partnership with the government of Nigeria, the US Government through the USAID Integrated Health Program (IHP) aims to strengthen States’ capacities to deliver a sustainable continuum of quality reproductive health/family planning, maternal and neonatal health, child health, nutrition and malaria services to reduce mother and child deaths.
The materials and equipment which included training manuals, job aids, anatomical models, and training equipment and supplies are to be used for health facility-based clinical skills training for primary health care workers to support continuous learning in a total of 361 Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities across 26 Local Government Health Authorities (LGHA) in the two states.
Receiving the items on behalf of Bauchi state, the Executive Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA), Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, commended USAID for the gesture and said that it will go a long way to further boost health care delivery particularly at the grassroots.
Mohammed who was represented by the Director, Primary Healthcare, Dr Bello Mustapha, promised that the materials will be delivered to the benefitting PHCs while the required training will be organized for the health workers.
He said that the target of the state government is to ensure that quality health care services was taken to the door steps of the people.
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