From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The World Health Organization (WHO) has commended the UK government for the £2 million donation to strengthen Nigeria’s health workforce in the vision of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
WHO, in a statement, on Tuesday, explained that the grant which was made available through the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, to support Nigeria’s health workforce will cover two years period and would help Nigeria optimize the performance, quality, and impact of the health workforce through evidence-informed policies and strategizes.
WHO said that Nigeria’s health system, like many countries in the global south has been beset with challenges in having a resilient health system that is able to provide quality health services, promote health and prevent diseases.
“The challenges were further exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic which directly impacts the availability of health workers to provide quality services across the country,” it added.
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Richard Montgomery, said in the statement that, a skilled, well-motivated and adequate health workforce is critical for Nigeria to end preventable deaths and build resilience against global threats.
He confirmed that the UK International Development funding aligns with the Nigerian health workforce strategic plan and will help the country up the skills of its workers, and improve health outcomes in the long run.
He also confirmed that the two-year project was designed to support the government at national and sub-national levels, and also support regulatory bodies, professional associations, and other key stakeholders to develop transformative strategies for scaling up the quantity and quality of health workers, including competency-based curricula development and reviews.
“It will help to align investment in the current and future needs of the population and health systems; strengthen the capacity of institutions including regulatory bodies for effective public policy stewardship, leadership and governance, optimize health workers’ retention, equitable distribution, and performance and strengthen the management of health workforce data for monitoring and accountability,” he explained.
WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, added that the project will implement several interventions in Nigeria, and will draw on the technical capacity of WHO to strengthen health systems including experience in implementing similar projects with appreciable results in the past.
He said the implementation at sub-national levels with a focus on 6 states of Cross River, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, and Lagos, will build on the presence and technical support being provided to state governments through the 37 WHO sub-national offices in Nigeria.
“The strength of every health system reflects the capacity and adequacy of its health workforce, which are necessary to deliver quality services to address population health needs,” says Dr Mulombo added.
He maintained that Nigeria must have adequate numbers of health workers who are fit for purpose, motivated to perform, and equitably distributed across the subnational levels to enhance equity in access to their services by the population in need if it desires to have a resilient and effective health system.
“Through the UK government’s generous support through WHO, we will deploy the technical support from the three levels of the organization to support the development of evidence-based policies and strategies, capacity building and management for improved planning and management of Nigeria’s health workforce,” he added.
