By Ademola Ade
The Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board, in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, has launched a training programme to address declining utilisation of primary healthcare services in some parts of the state.
The initiative is designed to strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers and community mobilisers to provide consistent and accurate health information, encourage appropriate health-seeking behaviour and improve access to primary healthcare services as part of efforts to advance Universal Health Coverage, UHC.
Speaking at the training, JICA Programme Coordinator, Mrs Ajibike Adewole, said healthcare infrastructure and personnel would have limited impact if residents did not use available services.
Adewole said effective community mobilisation was therefore critical to making primary healthcare facilities more responsive to the needs of communities.
“Universal health coverage is all-encompassing. One of its key aspects is helping to build the capacity of people and strengthen structures at the primary healthcare level and at the general hospital level,” she said.
She added: “Because if people are not using these services, then we are not actually helping the community or making the primary health centres as effective as they should be.”
According to her, cultural practices and existing social structures continued to influence healthcare choices in some communities, making it necessary to equip mobilisers with the right knowledge and communication skills.
Adewole said the programme would train master trainers at the state level, who would subsequently cascade the training to local government areas and community mobilisers.
She said the initial phase would cover two local government areas, with plans to expand the programme to other parts of Ogun State.
Also speaking, Director of PHC System Development, Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr Esther Ogunlesi, said the training was initiated in response to concerns over declining utilisation of healthcare services in some local government areas.
Ogunlesi, who spoke on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Oladehinde, said the state had healthcare infrastructure, personnel and other resources required to provide services, but inadequate demand generation remained a challenge.
“Recently, we discovered that service utilisation in our various local government areas has been declining,” she said.
She explained that an assessment of the existing community mobilisation system identified gaps in the consistency of messages delivered to residents and the commitment of some mobilisers.
Ogunlesi identified inconsistent messaging, inadequate commitment by some mobilisers and distractions affecting their field activities as major challenges confronting the system.
She said the training, supported by an integrated flip chart, would help standardise health messages and improve mobilisers’ understanding of different health programmes.
Ogunlesi also stressed the importance of using local languages where necessary, saying this would enable residents to better understand health information, ask questions and make informed decisions about seeking care.
She clarified that community mobilisers were not expected to function as health professionals but should possess enough knowledge to respond to basic questions about the programmes they promote.
The State Coordinator of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Solape Folarin, commended JICA for its contribution to primary healthcare development in Nigeria.
Folarin said JICA had provided technical and financial support to national primary healthcare policies, including the development of the Minimum Health Care Package and documents supporting primary healthcare revitalisation.
He also commended the Ogun State Government for creating an enabling environment for collaboration with development partners.
Folarin identified population coverage, service delivery and financial protection as key components of UHC, stressing that community mobilisation was essential to encouraging residents to seek appropriate healthcare.
He said about 20 healthcare facilities across 20 wards in two local government areas would be involved in the subsequent phase, with officers in charge, ward chairmen and community mobilisers expected to participate.
Folarin expressed optimism that implementation in the participating areas would provide evidence for expanding the programme statewide.
“Perhaps Odeda and Ikenne will serve as a trigger for us to escalate, scale up, and expand the programme to the remaining 18 local government areas,” he said.
