Ondo commends NSHIP’s impact on maternal, child care

A commendation has been given to the Nigeria State Health Investment Project (NSHIP) for its various interventions aimed at improving maternal and child health indices in Ondo State.

The Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Francis Akanbiemun, in a statement signed by the Communication Officer, Kehinde Adeleye, gave the commendation during a three-day re-orientation and training on modified Performance Based Financing (PBF) for Project Implementation Unit (PIU) at the Premier Resort, Igbara Oke, Ondo State.

While expressing optimism that the training would serve as a way of ensuring better implementation of modified PBF, Dr. Akanbiemun hinted that the new concept had been described as the best model by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. The Executive Secretary who reiterated the determination of Ondo State government to provide qualitative healthcare services at all times, charged the participants to take full advantage of the training as the exercise would afford them the opportunity of becoming trainers in modified PBF for others in subsequent trainings.

Speaking earlier, the Project Coordinator, Ondo NSHIP, Dr. Paulinus Omode, described the training as the first of its kind since the inception of the project in 2012, noting that it is only in Ondo state that modified PBF is practiced out of the eight states implementing NSHIP in Nigeria.

According to him, modified PBF is a deviation from some concepts, which gave room to data inflation saying, “it incorporates Lots Quality Assurance Survey (LQAS) – a community based sampling method.”

He later explained that the training would form the foundation upon which modified PBF would be built in the state, saying that it would also serve as a tool to build the knowledge of implementers in order to ensure effective implementation of the project at all levels.

In his words, the lead trainer from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Abuja, Mr. Solape Folarin, who is also a National RBFTA to NSHIP, Adamawa State described the exercise as an opportunity to learn, just as all had been put in place to ensure that knowledge is impacted through best channels for effective result.

Also speaking, NSHIP focal person in Ondo State Ministry of Health, Folukemi Aladenola, expressed appreciation to the government of Ondo State for its various achievements in the health sector. She said that the outcome of the training would have a pragmatic effect on health care delivery.