By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
The Kwara Government has commenced training of 193 newly recruited healthcare workers, on essential services of Primary Health Care (PHC), organised at Omuaran, in Irepodun Local Government Area of the State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme is tagged: “A 9-day Integrated Training Programme on Improving Quality of Care for Newly Recruited Healthcare Workers in Kwara”.
Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the training, the Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Prof. Nusirat Elelu, explained that the training is part of the activities lined-up from the proceed of $500,000 award.
She recalled that the State won the North Leadership Challenge Award in 2024 for a second time.
According to her, the training became necessary in building the capacity of workers because the State government had earlier conducted mass
recruitment exercise of healthcare workers.
“We felt that we had to have an opportunity to focus on them to teach them the basics in PHC care because some of them have never worked in the sector.
“This is the first batch under the leadership challenge award . We’ve been able to secure funding to train 193 of them.
“The expectations for these healthcare workers is quite a lot. We expect that majority of what is learnt is going to be cascaded down to the PHC level and of course to improve quality of care,” she said.
Also speaking, Dr Michael Oguntoye, the Director Primary Healthcare System explained that the trainees were trained on Primary healthcare principles.
He underscores the need for them to be educated in understanding the fundamentals of primary healthcare, including preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative services.
Oguntoye pointed out that the training of the newly recruited healthcare workers will help the State to strengthen PHC services, improve health outcomes, and promote healthier communities.
“It’s an opportunity for the healthcare workers who have not worked in PHC setting to be adequately prepared to function well in that setting,” he said.
