Governor Mohammed Umar Bago of Niger state has approved the recruitment of one thousand healthcare personnel in the state .
This is part of efforts at boosting and providing effective healthcare services to the people of the state.
The State Commissioner for the Ministry of Primary Healthcare, Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed Dangana, stated this at a workshop on Dissemination of Delivering Innovation in Self Care (DISC) project performance and learnings, organized by the ministry in collaboration with the Society for Family Health, held in Minna.
Represented by his Permanent Secretary, Abdullahi Imam, the Commissioner explained that the creation of the Ministry of Primary Healthcare as a cornerstone for basic healthcare services, which created budget lines for maternal and child health by Governor Mohammed Umar Bago, has undoubtedly made the future of Niger State bright towards expanding and training more workers for greater service delivery.
On family planning, Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed Dangana said that currently, over five hundred and twenty-seven facilities offer family planning services in Niger State, while plans are underway to expand the scope to accommodate more women seeking such services.
In his remarks, the Deputy Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics for the Niger State Ministry of Secondary and Tertiary Health, Ilya Laban Danlami, explained that they intend to embark on an enlightenment campaign to educate traditional and religious leaders on the need for men to allow their wives to embrace family planning methods.
This campaign also aims to correct the myths and misconceptions held by some members of society.
Also speaking, the Society for Family Health and Social Behavior Change Coordinator, Mr. Micheal Olubunmi Titus, said the Delivering Innovation in Self Care (DISC) project is operating in ten local government areas of Niger State, providing interventions in eighty-one health facilities across the state.
Mr Micheal Olubunmi also recommended for more engagement with developmental partners to sustain the self injection and family planning by women in ten pilot local government areas and if possible expand to the remaining local governments.
While delivering a paper, the Social Behaviour Change Communication Officer of the DISC project, Nufin Allah Alhamdu, explained that one hundred and ninety-four women in the ten local government areas have been reached.
At the start of the program, there was an increase of seventy thousand women who embraced the family planning program, and the number has now risen considerably.
Some of the ten local government areas includes Gurara, Lapai, Bosso, Agaie, Chanchaga, Suleja and Katcha among others.
In their separate testimonies about the adoption of self-injection for family planning, Aisha Mohammed and Mary Mathias said the system is working better for them without any hindrance.
COV/ALIYU LAWAL
