The Katsina State Government says it is collaborating with the Society for Family Health (SFH) to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes in its 34 local government areas.
The Executive Secretary of Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Shamsuddeen Yahaya, disclosed this at a three-day State Training of Trainers (ToT).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was on empathy-based counseling and election counseling in Katsina, with the aim of improving healthcare in the state.
Represented by the Director of Primary Health Care, Shema'u Kabir-Abba, Yahaya said the collaboration was done through the Delivering Innovation in Self-Care (DISC) 2.0 project.
According to him, SFH, in collaboration with the state government, launched the Delivering Innovation in Self-Care (DISC) 2.0 project in all the 34 local government areas in Katsina State.
“This initiative focuses on strengthening healthcare delivery by promoting self-care solutions as part of a resilient healthcare system, ensuring that families in the state, particularly women, have better access to healthcare services.
“The training, which is considered a cornerstone of the project's success, equipped maternal and child health (MCH) coordinators across the state.
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“And also selected heads of healthy birth spacing units from secondary and tertiary health institutions, with the skills to guide women in making informed decisions about healthy birth spacing.
“The goal is to increase the confidence and motivation of healthcare providers in counseling women, empowering them to overcome their fears and develop self-efficacy in adopting self-care practices for healthy birth spacing. “, said.
He said the training included theoretical and practical sessions, emphasizing 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) officials 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 birth spacing services across the state,” the ES said.
Highlighting the importance of the project, Mr Yahaya noted that documentation had been a major challenge in the state's health system.
Furthermore, he praised the DISC 2.0 project for addressing the problem from the beginning by equipping officers with the necessary skills.
“The coverage of this project is impressive and I am confident that this training will significantly improve the quality of healthy birth spacing services, particularly in our rural areas where these services are most needed.
“As a next step, the trained participants are expected to pass on the knowledge gained to more than 500 service providers in health centers across the state, ensuring that the benefits of this innovative approach reach women and families at the grassroots level.” .
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“The DISC 2.0 project continues to pave the way for better reproductive health outcomes, improving healthcare in Katsina and contributing to a stronger and more resilient health system,” Yahaya said.
The executive secretary further expressed his gratitude to the Society for Family Health and the DISC 2.0 project for organizing the training.
(YAYA)