The Government of Anambra State has commenced training of Community Health Extension Workers and Nurses on modified Life-Saving Skills in Awka, the State capital.
The exercise which will be in three batches drew participants from the 21 local government areas of the state while a reasonable number of the participants came from flood-prone local government areas.
The training for the first batch commenced on July 2 and will end on July 16, 2023, while the second batch will start on 16th July and end on July 28, 2023.
Moreso, the third batch, which will be the training of the trainers, will commence on a date yet to be announced.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, while addressing the participants, said that Governor Chukwuma Soludo is very passionate about the improvement of the state’s health care system, described the training as very crucial and strategic to the vision of the state government towards reducing maternal mortality to the lowest level.
Dr. Obidike who urged participants to take the training seriously noted that the state has enough manpower to even eliminate maternal mortality and appealed to the trainees to learn everything they could, including how to manage high risks pregnancies, such as a sickle cell carrier that is pregnant among others, even as he commended development partners like the United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization for supporting the state.
A professor of Reproductive Health at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Bryan Addimma, one of the trainers emphasised that the training is to teach all categories of health workers otherwise called skilled birth attendants what they need to know as regards their jobs.
Prof. Addimma said the training will also build their capacity in order for them to be able to refer cases that they cannot handle, and commended the Anambra state government for prioritising capacity building in their health system which he noted is the only way to have improved health care delivery.
The Anambra State Reproductive Health Coordinator, Dr. Uju Okoye stated that the training is part of Mrs. Nonye Soludo’s three years strategic initiative in eradicating maternal and neonatal mortality in the state and revealed that the maternal mortality rate in the state is two hundred and eighty-one deaths per one hundred thousand births, which is one of the best as the rate at the national level is five hundred and twelve deaths per one hundred thousand births.
Dominica Nwabufo
