Anambra State has been selected as a pilot state for a new grassroots healthcare programme designed to strengthen primary healthcare delivery, improve referral services and ensure residents receive timely medical attention.
The initiative, supported by the Mastercard Foundation, mSh Nigeria, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and other development partners in collaboration with the Anambra State Government, is expected to strengthen the management and coordination of community-based health workers across the state.
The Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, disclosed this during a three-day training programme on Community Based Health Workforce (CBHW) management held at Amawbia.
The training, titled “Leading and Managing Your Community Based Health Workforce (CBHW) Program,” was organised to strengthen the capacity of Local Government Health Authorities to effectively manage community health workers and improve healthcare delivery at the grassroots.
Obidike said every local government area in the state has a Supervisor for Health responsible for coordinating health activities and ensuring that services are properly linked across the healthcare system.
According to him, the structure would strengthen accountability and establish a more effective connection between communities, primary healthcare centres, general hospitals and teaching hospitals.
He explained that the ultimate goal was to ensure that residents who require medical attention could be identified early and assisted to access the appropriate healthcare facility without unnecessary delays.
“When a person in a community needs medical care, there should be someone who can identify the problem and help the person get to the right health facility,” he said.
The Commissioner added that health workers at primary healthcare centres would also have access to doctors for professional guidance whenever they were uncertain about the appropriate management of a patient.
He said patients requiring more specialised care would be referred from primary healthcare centres to general hospitals and, where necessary, to teaching hospitals.
Obidike described an effective referral system as critical to saving lives, noting that patients must receive the right care at the right time, particularly in emergency situations.
He also highlighted transportation as an important component of the programme, saying the state government was working to improve the availability of ambulances and other means of transporting patients between healthcare facilities.
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The Commissioner identified delays in recognising illness, deciding to seek medical care, reaching a health facility and receiving treatment as major factors that could contribute to preventable deaths, particularly among pregnant women.
He said the government was therefore working to reduce such delays through improved health education, better transportation systems and increased availability of healthcare workers.
Obidike further announced plans by the state to launch a major health education campaign to increase public awareness of diseases, particularly non-communicable diseases, and encourage residents to seek medical attention early.
He said the campaign would also focus on removing barriers that discourage people from accessing healthcare and contribute to maternal deaths.
On Anambra’s selection as a pilot state, the Commissioner described it as a significant opportunity for the state to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programme.
He said the development partners would collect data from the implementation of the initiative to determine what works and use the findings to strengthen and expand similar healthcare interventions across Nigeria.
Obidike expressed appreciation to the development partners for their support and urged stakeholders involved in the programme to work together to ensure that it delivers measurable improvements in healthcare services at the grassroots.
The training was attended by the Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Chizoba Ezeasor; Permanent Secretary, Anambra State Ministry of Health, Dr Obiageli Uchebo; Local Government Health Authorities, Supervisors for Health and other health officials and healthcare workers.
