The Edo State Government has commenced training of staff of the state’s Primary Health Care Development Agency (EDSPHCDA), pledging to sustain ongoing reforms to reposition the health sector to ensure effective, efficient quality healthcare delivery to Edo people.
The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Obehi Akoria, while declaring open the competency-based training for the health workers in Benin City, said the capacity building programme is designed to upscale the relevant skills, knowledge and behaviours required for high performance across primary healthcare centres in the state.
Noting that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led state government remains committed to strengthening the state’s health system, the commissioner said the government is holistically reforming the sector, equipping workers with the right tools and knowledge to effectively deliver on their job.
She said, “Leadership is key to change and we are fortunate to have a leader in Governor Godwin Obaseki who has clarity in terms of his vision for health care at this point in time; he has been in the system for more than a decade and understands the dynamics and the role of a good health system in facilitating economic growth and development.”
Charging the workers on diligence, professionalism and dedication to duty, the Commissioner noted, “The question I want to ask you all present here today is: if you were to have a cardiac arrest on duty at the primary healthcare where you work, will you survive? I want you to think about it as you sit in this room for this training for the next couple of days. If your son’s wife were to have her first baby, would you want that baby to be born in the primary healthcare centre which you supervise? It’s not time for us to say things that are politically correct, but a period for us to ask ourselves questions like: If everyone working in the PHCs were like me, how will the healthcare centres be?
She added, “I am confident that as part of what we will be learning from this capacity building propgramme will be to have a change of heart and do things differently. I want to reiterate that the countries that people are emigrating to were built by people of those countries. Who will build your own for you? We are looking for champions who love Nigeria and who love Edo State enough to build with us for our people.
“Our people say when you throw a stone in the market, you don’t know who it will hit; that’s a PHC for you. If you make PHCs work, it will work for you, your children, grandparents and grandchildren.”
