SFH trains 57 Taraba health workers on effective health care delivery

The Society for Family Health (SFH) a Nigerian NGO, has conducted a three-day training for 57 Taraba health workers on effective health care delivery.

Newsmen report that the exercise was held at the Galaxy Point Conference Center,Jalingo, on Saturday,

The state’s Project Manager of the group, Mrs. Aisha Dadi, explained that the training drew participants from three Local Government Areas of Jalingo, Gassol and Zing.

Dadi said that the SFH had been working in partnership with communities, government, donors and the private sector to achieve the universal health coverage and social justice for all Nigerians.

“We deploy health system strengthening and total market approach in a bid to unify the private and public health sectors in achieving the goal.

“The Lafiyan Yara Project is an intervention that aimed at ensuring pediatric, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers receive quality HIV treatment and care.

”This is using existing community structure through Community-Clinic-Collaboration” she further explained.

She disclosed that the exercise was funded by AIDSFONDS and ViiV healthcare in partnership with Pediatric breakthrough partners .

”Such as UNICEF, EGPAF and PATA, brought together the ART doctors and their Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) officers as well as the health educators of the three LGAs, she said.

According to Dadi, the workshop was packaged to build the capacity of doctors, relevant healthcare workers and community actors on the UNICEF Pediatric Service Delivery Framework (SDF) to achieve accelerated results.

She further explained that other objectives of the project was to identify children, adolescents, pregnant and nursing mothers where were HIV positive and link them to care.

”It was also to ensure that these category of HIV positive citizens continue to have access to life saving anti retroviral therapy with a view to making those on treatment remained virally suppressed, she said.

Dadi, however, identified some challenges to include unavailability of working tools for health workers, HIV test kits and lack of adequate manpower.

According to her, most of the data entry clerks and M&Es at health facilities were volunteers frequently leave for greener pasture.

She said participants also reported distance from community to facilities as causing great challenge to clients to adhere to treatment as most of them may not have transportation fares to the facilities for their drug pick ups.

Earlier in a goodwill message, the Director-General of Taraba State AIDS Control Agency Dr Garba Danjuma, reassured that the state would continue to provide an enabling environment to ensure the success of all interventions from partners.

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He thanked the SFH for its continued support in the training and retraining of health sectors workers across the state and assured them of the support of the Agency at all times.

Media report that participants for the three-day training came from the National Pediatric HIV task team, Taraba State Ministry of Health and AET Doctors from Federal Medical Center, Jalingo.

Others include: Taraba State Specialist Hospital Jalingo, Government House Clinic, Jalingo, Umma Hospital Jalingo, Jinya Hospital Jalingo, General Hospital Zing, UMCH Zing and General Hospital Mutum Biyu.