Anambra govt to employ additional 700 healthcare workers

From Obinna Odogwu, Awka

No fewer than 700 health workers would be recruited in a few weeks by the Anambra State government to boost service delivery in the state’s healthcare system.

 This was disclosed by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, on the final day of the five-day workshop on Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiatives (MAMII) held at Neni, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state.

Obidike, who said that the planned recruitment would be in addition to an earlier exercise, stated that the new workers would be posted to the various hospitals particularly Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the state.

“We recently employed health workers and posted them to various hospitals in the state. But by next week, we will be recruiting another 700 to boost service delivery in our hospitals,” Obidike disclosed.

The commissioner said that the MAMII programme came at the right time, as healthcare workers need the training to equip them for the tasks ahead.

While chiding care givers who didn’t take their jobs seriously, the commissioner commended those who always go the extra mile to save lives in the hospitals.

Obidike said that the government had provided and would continue to provide necessary tools and equipment needed in all the hospitals in the state to make them better.

The Desk Officer, Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) on the MAMII project, Dr. Obianuju Okoye, in her remarks said that the programme was a federal government-led initiative aimed at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Nigeria.

“It seeks to introduce innovative solutions to address the underlying causes of maternal and neonatal deaths, focusing on areas such as access to quality healthcare and provision of timely medical interventions,” she added.

Okoye said that the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, had given directive on the MAMII programme, instructing that it should be localised at communities with high maternal and neonatal mortalities nationwide.

“The minister also directed that we conduct a deep dive into contextual drivers of maternal and neonatal mortality in the communities, explore opportunities therein and identify gaps to address the issue.

“We are also expected to work with the community and all relevant stakeholders to design context-specific solutions to holistically address issues and fill the identified gaps using the Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) principles,” Okoye said.