Katsina Govt. partners SFH to improve sexual reproductive health

Katsina, Nov. 3, 2024 (NAN) The Katsina State Government says it is collaborating with Society for Family Health (SFH) to improve sexual reproductive health outcomes across its 34 Local Government Areas.

The Executive Secretary, Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Shamsuddeen Yahaya disclosed this at a 3-day State Training of Trainers (ToT).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was on Empathy-Based Counseling and Counseling for Choice in Katsina, aimed to enhance health care in the state.

Represented by the Director of Primary Health Care, Dr. Shema’u Kabir-Abba, Yahaya said the collaboration was through the Delivering Innovation in Self-Care (DISC) 2.0 project.

According to him, SFH in collaboration with the state government has launched the Delivering Innovation in Self-Care (DISC) 2.0 project across all 34 local government areas in Katsina state.

“This initiative focuses on strengthening healthcare delivery through the promotion of self-care solutions as part of a resilient health system, ensuring that families in the state, particularly women, have better access to health services.

“The training, which is considered a cornerstone of the project’s success, equipped the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Coordinators across the state.

“And also selected heads of Healthy Child Spacing units from secondary and tertiary health institutions, with the skills to guide women in making informed choices about healthy child spacing.

“The focus is to increase the confidence and motivation of healthcare providers in coaching women, empowering them to overcome their fears and build self-efficacy in adopting self-care practices for healthy child spacing,” he said.

He said the training featured both theoretical and practical sessions, emphasising the importance of compassion and understanding in counselling.

“In addition to this, the DISC 2.0 project trained 34 local government Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) officers to improve their capacity in data collection, accurate reporting, and monitoring.

“This is with a view to ensuring a more efficient documentation process for healthy child spacing services across the state,” the ES said.

Highlighting the importance of the project, Yahaya noted that documentation had been a major challenge in the state’s healthcare system.

He further commended the DISC 2.0 project for tackling the issue from the outset by equipping officers with the necessary skills

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“The coverage of this project is impressive, and I am confident that this training will significantly improve the quality of healthy child spacing services, particularly in our rural areas where these services are most needed.

“As a next step, the trained participants are expected to cascade the knowledge gained, to over 500 service providers in health facilities across the state, ensuring that the benefits of this innovative approach reach women and families at the grassroots level.

“The DISC 2.0 project continues to pave the way for better reproductive health outcomes, enhancing healthcare in Katsina and contributing to a stronger, more resilient health system,” Yahaya said.

The executive secretary further expressed appreciation to the Society for Family Health and the DISC 2.0 project for organising the training.