As number of rape cases increase during the second wave of coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in partnership with the Yobe state government organised a training for 45 primary healthcare providers in selected primary health centres of the state.
Declaring the training opened, WHO Programme Manager in the Northeast Nigeria, Mr. Shafiq Muhammad, represented by Dr. Ibrahim Salisu, WHO Public Health Officer said the aim of the training was to strengthen the health sector response in gender-base violence during emergencies.
“This is a training for primary healthcare workers selected across 15 local government councils most affected by the conflict. The overall effort of the WHO and the state government is to ensure despite the covid-19 pandemic, essential services including GBV are available in all parts of the state.
“We are complimenting the efforts of the government despite the attacks on healthcare facilities. Government is rehabilitating some of the Primary Healthcare Centres and WHO is providing necessary technical support and resources, by ensuring healthcare services are provided in an interrupted matter,” he said.
A Reproductive Health Coordinator, Hajia Mairo Yakubu, who represented the Commissioner of Health acknowledged the training would strengthen and increase the knowledge of the healthcare workers in inorder to meet up with the challenges of the time.
“This is something that has been long awaited, because of the rampant cases of GBV in our communities, sometimes the survivors were being left at the health facilities because of the lack of proper care and knowledge of diagonising,” she said.
The participants commended the state government and the WHO in strengthening their capacity as the healthcare providers, saying the gap they had has now been sealed up.
