The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Nigerian Ministry of Health have collaborated with the Cross River State government to upgrade its workers registry.
This was revealed at a multi-stakeholders training session held in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, southern Nigeria organized to enhance healthcare planning and workforce management.
At the four-day workshop, the Federal Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization launched a comprehensive initiative to update the health workforce registry in Cross River State.
The initiative would equip health officials from different sectors with the necessary skills to effectively update the existing registry to bridge the data gaps on the distribution of healthcare professionals across the state.
In a remark during the opening ceremony, the Cross River Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Ayuk acknowledged that the current data on health personnel distribution in the state fell short of the expected information for effective human resource management.
Ayuk, represented by the Director Planning, Research and Statistics in the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Mr. Casmir Ugbong, stressed the need for an upgraded registry, noting, “We are not fully aware of the existing workforce gaps in the health centers around Cross River State.”
The commissioner underscored the importance of a comprehensive and updated registry for recruitment of professionals in the different medical fields to enhance service delivery.
Ayuk said, “We want to bridge the professional gap. Updating this health workforce registry will provide us with a scorecard, a fact sheet on the distribution and indices of the Human Resource for Health across the state.”
To the participants, the commissioner urged, “It is your duty to ensure that everyone in your unit and establishment is included in the registry. We believe we have made the right choices and nobody should derail this process. We need accurate, quality data on human resources to drive effective healthcare planning.”
Also, the Director General of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Vivien Otu commended the participants for their dedication to the course.
Otu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the agency, Mrs. Lucy Enakirerhi expressed appreciation to WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health for sponsoring this important workshop and being part of the process.
A representative of the Federal Ministry of Health, Me. John Ayoade described Cross River as one of the few States in Nigeria with an existing workforce registry.
He noted that making the effort to upgrade the registry was a testament to Cross River State’s commitment to improving its health workforce and enhance service delivery.
The workshop featured discourses on the advancement of health workforce registry as well as highlights benefits to include equitable distribution of health professionals; provide reliable data to policymakers for strategic decision-making in workforce deployment, recruitment, and training.
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