NGO to prioritise community health in Gombe

  In an effort to improve reproductive health services in Gombe state, Marie Stopes International is to build the capacity of community health extension workers (CHEW) across seven local government areas in the state. Director, Clinical Service of the organisation, Dr .Kingsley Udogu, disclosed this yesterday in Gombe during a one day meeting on women integrated and sexual health service,  with stakeholders and service providers in the state. He said Marie Stopes International Nigeria has been in Gombe since in 2016 working in the area of reproductive health, child spacing among other areas. Dr. Udogu said, following the survey conducted by the organisation in the seven LGAs only17 per cent midwives were working in the primary health care facilities, majority of the staff; 75 to 80 per cent, are community health workers, hence the need  to build their capacity to perform effectively. “We will prioritiase this cadres of  staff, to enable them deliver quality service and  we will also support them with commodities to serve the poor of the poorest in the rural communities because we have identified facilities without support. “We will also train 10 master trainers  who are Nurses/Midwives ,to step down the training to others and continue to supervise the facilities after we leave the state. He said the expected outcome is to ensure women safely plan their pregnancies and improve their sexual Reproductive health and Rights. “We want women to be pregnant by choice not by chance ,”he said Also speaking, chairman, Gombe state Primary Health Care Development Agency (GSPHCDA), Alhaji Yaya Hammari, commended Marie Stopes for the wonderful job they are doing in Gombe. He said in Gombe state they adopted child spacing because it has more acceptability when compared to family planning. Hammari also called for timely release of the amount budgeted for child spacing in the state. Director, Pharmaceutical Service, Ministry of Health, Mr Malalaku Raphe, urged those that would be trained to utilise the knowledge.