NGO Rehabilitates Family Planning Section Of Health Centres In Delta
The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, has reiterated the commitment of the State Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa in ensuring that all pregnant women and children under five years of age in the State have access to free health care services through the instrumentality of the State Health Insurance Scheme.
Dr. Ononye made this known during the commissioning of the rehabilitated Family Planning Section in three selected health facilities in Oshimili North Local Government Area by The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Nigeria, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), funded by the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation.
The Commissioner commended TCI Nigeria for partnering with the State Government in improving maternal health through innovative family Planning models with the view to improving services and thereby increasing the number of family planning users in the State.
Addressing pregnant women present at the ante-natal clinic, he urged them to adhere strictly to counsels from the health workers as regard the area of their feeding habits, medications and other instructions on what they ought to observe in order to have safe delivery as government is providing their ante-natal service at no cost to them.
Earlier, the State Programme Coordinator, The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Mrs. Nwanne Kalu thanked the State for embracing the TCI business unusual model which makes the State sit on the driver’s seat while TCI provides Technical Assistance from behind the scene.
She stated that Delta State is one of the first five States implementing The Challenge Initiative (TCI) in Nigeria and that they provide Technical Assistance (TA) to the State Ministry of Health through the Reproductive Health Unit to improve coordination, strengthen health programmes and specifically improve their Family Planning indices.
Speaking further, she said with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, the Initiative is implemented using a three-pronged approach of Advocacy which seeks to provide enabling policy environment for implementation; Demand Generation aimed at creating demand to drive uptake of Family Planning (FP) services and Service Delivery which aims at improving access and quality of care provided to FP clients at health facilities.
According to her one of the key deliverables under the Service Delivery Thematic Area is the 72 hours Makeover of selected facilities which commenced with the makeover of three facilities (Ibuza General Hospital, Okpanam Comprehensive Health Centre and Illah Primary Health Centre) drawn from Oshimili North LGA.
She revealed that TCI through the State earmarked twenty-six (26) health facilities across the State as beneficiaries of the 72hrs makeover. In her words, ‘today we are commissioning the first phase which comprises of three health facilities namely: Government Hospital, Ibusa; Comprehensive Health Centre, Okpanam; and Primary Health Care Centre, Illah all in Oshimili North Local Government Area’.
The State Programme Coordinator said that the ‘Family Planning Unit:72-Hours Clinic Makeover is an idea borne out of passion for improved health reproductive service and work with State Governments in different part of the State. The State RH Coordinator, Dr Christian Tetsola, on his part said that Family Planning Unit 72-Hour Clinic Makeover is an idea borne out of passion for improved health reproductive service and work with State Governments in different part of the country.
Mrs. Kalu explained that the Initiative intervention covers areas that affect family planning and taking into consideration the integration of other service areas such as the Labour ward, Immunization and Ante-natal Units.
She stated that the intervention covers renovation of the selected facility, provision of furniture and medical equipment and other things that will lead to improved and quality services for the family planning clients.
The State RH Coordinator, Dr Christian Tetsola, on his part said that Family Planning Unit 72-Hour Clinic Makeover is an idea borne out of passion for improved health reproductive service and work with State Governments in different part of the country. He said that under its Service Delivery Thematic Area the Initiative uses a window period of 72-Hours (3days) to provide family planning equipment, furniture and renovate the facility with the view to making it conducive for the service providers and clients that access health care.
Explaining further, he said between the close of business day on Friday and the resumption of work on Monday, staff and visitors to the health facility come to see a transformed facility against what was on ground before the weekend started.
He said that under its Service Delivery Thematic Area the Initiative uses a window period of 72-Hours (3days) to provide family planning equipment, furniture and renovate the facility with the view to making it conducive for the service providers and clients that access health care.
Explaining further, he said between the close of business day on Friday and the resumption of work on Monday, staff and visitors to the health facility come to see a transformed facility against what was on ground before the weekend started.