USAID donates N500m hospital equipment to Bauchi, Sokoto States

The US Government through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over training materials worth N500Million to the Bauchi and Sokoto State Governments to improve the clinical competencies of primary health care workers in delivering reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition and malaria services.

The USAID Health, Population and Nutrition Office Director, Paul McDermott at a virtual event monitored in Bauchi, presented the training materials to the Commissioners of Health, for Bauchi and  Sokoto States, Dr Aliyu Maigoro Mohammed and Dr Mohammed AliInname respectively.

The event was attended by senior government officials from Bauchi and Sokoto States.

During the presentation, Paul McDermott, USAID’s Health, Population and Nutrition Office Director stated at the handover ceremony that, “At the centre of the United State Government commitment to supporting Nigeria strengthen its health system at the primary care level, is the need for availability of highly trained and motivated frontline health workforce”

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He added that “To sustain this, the state governments will need to equitably provide qualified health workers.”

The material and equipment which included training manuals,  job aids, anatomical models, and training equipment and supplies are to be used for health facility-based clinical skills training for primary health care workers to support continuous learning in a total of 361 Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities across 26 Local Government Health Authorities (LGHA) in Bauchi and Sokoto States.

Paul McDermott added that through the partnership with the government of Nigeria, the US Government through the USAID Integrated Health Program (IHP) aims to strengthen States’ capacities to deliver a sustainable continuum of quality reproductive health/family planning, maternal and neonatal health, child health, nutrition and malaria services to reduce mother and child deaths.

While receiving the materials, Executive Chairman of Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA), Dr Rilwanu Mohammed commended USAID for the gesture saying that it will go a long way to further boost health care delivery, particularly at the grassroots.

Represented by the Director, Primary Healthcare, Dr Bello Mustapha, the BASPHCDA Executive Chairman promised that the materials will be delivered to the benefitting PHCs while the required training will be organized for the health workers.

He said that the target of the state government is to ensure that quality health care services were taken to the doorsteps of the people.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE