NEWS: "There is Need for the Health Workers to Up-date their Knowledge and their Skills on How to Provide Quality Services"… Says Hon. Commissioner for Health Adamawa State.

By: Catherine Philip Jelani
 This was disclosed to news men in an interview granted by the Director of Disease Control Adamawa State Ministry of Health Alhaji Hammad Pariya who represented the Hon. Commissioner of Health Dr. Fatima Atiku at the Opening Ceremony of a 3 – day Training on the Minimum Initial Service Package for Reproductive Health in Crisis Situation ( MISP) for Frontline Health Workers in Adamawa and Gombe State  organized by UNFPA on Wednesday 4^th of May, 2016 at City Green Hotel, Yola.  

Alhaji Pariya said that UNFPA provides a lot of inputs for service delivery and other commodities at health facilities levels such as Reproductive Health and Dignity kits, family planning commodities and capacity building to frontline health worker, delivery kits. And, that more of these facilities are providing maternal and neonatal care. He explained that with these commodities, our health workers are able to provide quality services to the populace; “that is why they are here today to train some of our health facility providers particularly those health facilities that are serving in the IDPs Camps in the State.” He said 

He however believed that the training will go a long way in building the capacity of health care facility service providers in the state because they are the Frontline health workers working at the service delivery points and therefore, there is need for them to update their knowledge and Skills on how to provide qualitative service so that at the end of the day, any client be it a woman within the Reproductive Age or child that comes to these health facilities will receive a quality service.

The UNFPA Logistics and Supplies Specialist, Mustapha Kemokai told news men that UNFPA is training the health workers to go back to the communities and cascade the training to other members of health facilities to be able to serve better, and they are mostly IDPs and host communities. Further more, he said that the funding for these activities are mostly from Japanese government, USAID and the Central Emergency Response. He said UNFPA has supported like 80 health facilities in Adamawa State across all the tiers of health sector. Primary Health Care, General Hospitals and Specialist Hospital.  “But,  by the end of June this year, we will be supporting only 30 because all the five funding for others have dried out. So, we try to appeal to the State Government when we pull out, if we have to pull out due to lack of funding, there will be a huge gap. We won’t be able to support like 500,000 people with extra services, that’s a huge number, so we are appealing to the State Government to sit with UNFPA to workout modalities to cover up for the donor funds that has become short otherwise, Mustapha also told journalists that UNFPA expects these trainees or health workers to master the understanding of Reproductive care and be able to deliver better services to the people and report back  on utilization of its kits visa viz Reproductive kits and dignity kits.

 

Auwal Abubakar the Programme Officer of UNFPA in Adamawa State in an interview with journalists made the objective of the training clear. He said that the objective of the training is to train Front line health workers in Minimum Initial Support Package for Reproductive Health in Crisis Situation. More so,  he made it clear that the training is done in respect of the insurgency ravaged areas which includes ; Michika, Madagali, Mubi North,  Mubi South, Maiha, Hong, and Gombi.

Auwal on the other hand has commended the efforts and support of the  Adamawa State Government ; “ We’ve been getting tremendous support from the Governor ,His Excellency Senator Mohammad Umaru  Bindow and also the Chairman of Adamawa State Planning Commission  Engr. Arin Lutu and the Hon. Commissioner of Health Dr. Fatima Atiku, they have supported us very well “.