Fridabs Solacebase Communications, the publishing organization of Solacebase online newspaper has conducted a town hall meeting for health stakeholders in Jigawa State.
Solacebase reports that the meeting aimed at improving healthcare services at the grass-root with the theme, “Community Health Development through Participatory Involvement”, was part of an investigative and accountability project tagged Rural Health Accountability Project (RHAP).
Speaking earlier at the event, Solacebase Publisher, Abdullateef Abubakar Jos, said the meeting was geared towards addressing the challenges militating access to quality health care services at rural areas and epidemics preparedness of the state.
Abdullateef said the organization’s investigative and accountability project on healthcare services at the rural areas that focuses on north west and north central is a collaboration with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and the support of MacArthur Foundation.
“The program is monitoring, investigating and sensitizing on resources and manpower deployment by government at Primary Health Care centres in states in the north central and north west in other to ensure that residents access good health care services in rural communities,” Abdullateef said.
’With our visit to some PHCs in some of the communities in Jigawa , we believe that the people and the government can interface on what needed to be done to improve access to health care at the grass-root.’’
On his part, a medical expert, Dr. Muhammad Namadina with Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital calls for collaboration between the government and the community as a measure to improve health care services at rural areas.
He urged the government to give priority to epidemic preparedness with sensitization of the populace on measures to adopt in case of outbreaks and participatory deployment of resources for transparency.
Some of the participants whom are health care givers decried lack of motivation from the state government to health workers.
‘’One of our major problem is lack of promotion and good incentives that can encourage a person to want to do more,’’ the health professionals lamented.
Also, some of the participants raised concern on inadequate health personnel at Primary Health Care centers in the state.
In a remark, the Jigawa State House of Assembly Chief Whip, Alhaji Lawan Garba Muhammad said the assembly has always been supportive of the state government with legal frame work that would improve access to health care delivery in the state.
‘’The support of the house of assembly to the executive as measure to address shortage of manpower include the law establishing two more colleges of Nursing in Hadejia and Babura as well as improving that of Birnin- Kudu, ‘’Muhammad said.
Muhammad appreciated the initiative of the town hall meeting for stakeholders to evolve ways of improving the healthcare delivery in Jigawa.
Participants at the meeting include community leaders, civil society organizations, health care givers, lawmakers, policy implementers and security agents.
Meanwhile, a campus outreach and advocacy was also conducted by Fridabs Solacebase Communications, at Jigawa State School of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kudu on Wednesday on the need for students to embrace rural posting as a measure to improve manpower shortage at grass-root.
