The Federal Ministry of Health has trained 40 healthcare workers across Kwara’s 16 local government areas on self-care.
The training was undertaken under the first phase of the Self-care Initiative on Sexual and Reproductive Health programme in Nigeria.
Speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the training, the Director of Reproductive Health, Ministry of Health, Dr. Kayode Afolabi, explained that the training was to educate healthcare workers on their specific roles in maintaining and improving their health and the health of Nigerians.
According to Afolabi, high-quality self-care interventions were crucial to achieving universal health coverage, noting that through it, many people could learn how to maintain their health outside the health facility or health worker-based services.
He noted that Kwara, Ogun and Oyo states would be covered under the first phase of the programme which would eventually be extended to all states of the federation.
“Our expectations at the end of the advocacy and training is that citizens will be aware of their health, the knowledge of disease prevention and utilisation of healthcare facilities.
“We will have been able to create a link between family, healthcare workers and healthcare facilities across the country,” he said.
Earlier, in his address of welcome, Dr. Raji Razaq, Kwara State Commissioner for Health, lamented the high rate of maternal mortality, noting that self-care was an important step in achieving a reduction in the death of mothers and children.
Razaq, who was represented by Dr. Oluwatosin Fakayode, Director of Public Health in the state Ministry of Health, also disclosed that the state had been named among beneficiaries of the 2021 N10 billion health intervention programme of the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative.
He explained that under the (ASR Africa) initiative, Kwara state would receive the sum of N2.5 billion expanded grant.
The grant, he said, would be dedicated to maternal and child health interventions as well as the improvement of health infrastructure.
Also speaking, the Country Coordinator of John Snow Inc., Dr. Adewole Adefalu, said that the training was to ensure that healthcare workers were aware of their specific roles in maintaining and improving their health.
(NAN)
