In its bid to stop community transmission of coronavirus, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has begun an online national training of trainers (NTOT) for primary health care personnel in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Addressing the facilitators and trainees Wednesday, the Executive Director/CEO of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said the agency sensed the possibility of community transmission of the virus early in the day and had prepared documents on PHC preparedness and response to Covid-19 which were shared with all the relevant stakeholders across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, six weeks preparatory to the commencement of the training programme.
He said the training “is aimed at halting community transmission of Covid-19 in the country and to ensure the free flow of quality PHC services, in line with the guidelines and protocol of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, the Federal Ministry of Health and Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC).”
Shuaib also disclosed that over 250 participants drawn from across the 36 states and the FCT were involved with the first phase of the three-day national online training.
He said further that the training would be cascaded down from the national level to state and LGA levels where over two hundred and twenty thousand primary health care workers would receive capacity building, nationwide
On his part, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, stressed the need to have the primary health care workers trained and sensitised “because they are the first port of call and contact in the communities.”
He said, “The PHC workers manning Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities are strategically positioned to contribute to the decisive actions required to curb this scourge. They can protect themselves, identify and refer suspected cases of Covid-19 at the facility and community levels, trace contacts of suspected cases, monitor and report adherence to quarantine and self-isolation directives to contacts.
“The capability of the PHC workers to engage the grassroots has been very essential in our near eradication of polio and the decisive control of Ebola in 2014. These same skills are what we are drawing upon to support the next phase of the Covid-19 outbreak response.”
The minister commended the NPHCDA and development partners for “coming up with a comprehensive PHC guide and training plan to provide the strategic direction required to reduce the spread and the effect of community transmission.’
