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The Kwara Government on Thursday in Ilorin engaged 200 Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) aimed at expanding primary healthcare access to under-served populations in the state.
Speaking during the flag-off of the CHIPS programme, Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara said that his administration is commtted to delivering qualitative, affordable and accessible healthcare for the people of the state.
“The community workers are the ones that will play the desired role of mobilisers, influencers and promoters of positive health behaviours, while they also provide basic services in their respective
communities, ultimately linking the communities with services in
primary healthcare facilities.
“The role of community-based health workers residing in the community in attaining this cannot be over emphasised,” he said.
Dr Raji Razaq, the state Commissioner for Health, said that the goal of the programme was also to raise awareness and stimulate demand for primary healthcare services by the community.
“We shall, therefore, be joining other states in the country where a comprehensive link has been established between the primary health and various health programmes to leverage on existing structures toward implementation of critical interventions for the attainment of common goals and objectives.
“As we are flagging-off CHIPS here, the ‘Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention’ is also underway, and we are also marking the World Hepatitis Day, while active healthcare service delivery is ongoing across the 16 LGAs in the state, on this same day.
“It is instructive to note that the attainment of Universal Health Coverage in our dear state shall therefore become feasible with this kind of investment in the community component of primary healthcare,” he said.
He stated that the approval for the implementation of the CHIPS programme in the state is no doubt a great achievement and a big step in establishing sustainable structures in consonance with the national healthcare policy direction and the policy thrust of this administration.
Also speaking, Dr Nusirat Elelu, the Executive Secretary of the state Primary Health Care Development Agency, observed that this is a major turning point in the history of health for all through PHC.
According to her, across the globe, very little improvement has been made despite the huge investment made by government and donors.
“To gain significant traction on the PHC system, we all need to re-imagine PHC. As a country, Nigeria has also made some progress but not without challenges.
“These challenges have many a times resulted in the reversal of their initial gains made. One thing is clear though, leadership and governance play very pivotal role within the fragile PHC system,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CHIPS were equipped with bags containing Malaria drugs, iodine, paracetamol and uniform-jacket, among othes.
The trained health workers are expected to administer primary healthcare services amongst the populace. (NAN)
