By ISHOLA MICHAEL, Bauchi

Worried by the dearth of Medical Doctors in its secondary health facilities which is negatively affecting healthcare delivery services, the Bauchi State government is to conduct recruitment exercises to engage 111 medical Doctors and 220 midwives who will fill the existing vacuum to address the shortage of manpower in the sector.

The disclosure was made by the Deputy Director, Research, Planning and Statistics, Ministry of Health, Garba Gamawa, during a one-day meeting for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and stakeholders in the health sector, organised by Community Health Research (CHR) and supported by USAID Integrated Health Program (IHP) in Bauchi.

Garba Gamawa said that the state government was working towards addressing some of the challenges in the health sector, pointing out that the 2021 health budget has captured and made provisions for the procurement of ambulances for all the facilities across the state.

The Deputy Director said that “The state government is working to address some of the challenges experienced in the health sector such as shortage of manpower, inadequate supply of drugs and commodities and shortage of ambulances in the PHCs. Most of them have been captured in the budget and will be adequately provided for.”

Speaking earlier, the CHR Project Manager, Mr Salisu Mohammed said that the meeting was organized to fashion out a unique strategy for effective communications among Civil Society Organizations, adding that the meeting would strengthen relationships among CSOs and MDAs.

He further said that advocacy messages were developed to bring changes in primary healthcare centres, hence the essence of the stakeholders meeting.

The CHR Project manager listed some of the issues in PHCs to include Inadequate distribution of human resources for health, inadequate supply of drugs and commodities in primary healthcare centres, inadequate emergency ambulances in PHC centres across the state amongst others.

Salisu Mohammed however noted that inadequate and delay in releases of PHC funds was an issue for advocacy among others, stressing that the need for coordinated advocacy in the state cannot be overemphasised.

“Issues around PHC have to be advocated for in the state. This meeting is held quarterly with stakeholders to identify and discuss advocacy issues. The meeting is also aimed at developing messages to reach out to policymakers in the state,” he said.

Also Speaking, the CHR Program Manager, Zainab Lawal said that the activity would also discuss updates and scorecards of line Ministries, Departments and parastatals in the state.

In his remarks, Chairman, Bauchi State Network of Civil Society (BASNEC), Mr Jinjiri Garba said that CSOs in the state will ensure that coordination and feedback were communicated among stakeholders for improved primary healthcare.

He added that overcoming issues in the health sector demands networking and collaboration considering its expanded nature stressing that hands must be on deck to achieve the set goals of health sector development. (Nigerian Tribune)

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