Govt trains 956 volunteers on primary health services

dimeji akinloye

July 11, 2017 9:49 AM

The volunteers are also expected to mobilise women and children during the state’s Maternal and Neonatal Child Health Week (MNCHW).

Yahaya Bello

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The volunteers are also expected to mobilise women and children during the state’s Maternal and Neonatal Child Health Week (MNCHW), slated for July 17 to 21, according to Alhaji Acheku Yusuf, the State Facilitator, Lokoja Local Government.

Yusuf said that one facility each would be used in each of the 239 electoral wards in the state and four volunteers had been selected per facility to undergo a three-day training programme that would hold simultaneously in all the 21 local government areas.

He explained that the training would involve the concept and six milestones of CHPS; explain volunteerism and its qualities; discuss roles and responsibilities of volunteers, and challenges they faced in their day to day activities.

“CHPS is a new way of delivering health services to the grassroots, based on a strategy that has been tested by community members and found effective.

“The emphasis is on preventive, because prevention is better than cure.

“We have never had it like this before in the history of this state, where people are being allowed to take ownership of their health in their own hand,” Yusuf said.

He commended the Gov. Yahaya Bello and the state commissioner for health for their magnanimity, support and commitment in ensuring primary healthcare service delivery to the grassroots.

The Director of Lokoja Local Government (DLG), Hajia Fatima Abubakar, hailed the volunteers for their willingness and commitment to bringing health services to the door steps of their communities at the grassroots in order to save lives.

She urged them to imbibe the training to enable them carry out the CHPS effectively at the designated various facilities at the grassroots.

On his part, Mr Kazeem Ismaila, Director of Primary Health Care, Lokoja LGA, said that the CHPS was Federal Ministry of Health initiative in collaboration with USAID and the State, which also complement the Kogi government Health Care Plus programme.

One of the trainees, Mr Abdulkadir Bello, from Ward six Lokoja, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) appreciated the initiative and urged his collegues to do the job with passion.

“It will make me to mobilise my people to the nearest health facility to get treated the way the government want it to be,” Bello said.

dimeji akinloye