By Nnedinma Okeke, Awka
The Executive Secretary, Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ASPHCDA), Pharm Chisom Uchem has reiterated the Anambra Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s palliative of free Antenatal Care (ACN) and Delivery services in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state.
Pharm Uchem made the reiteration at Vertex View Hotel, Nibo during a training of trainers which scales to other Local Government Areas (LGAs), the healthcare digitalisation use of eHealth Card by Elephant Healthcare Nigeria.
She noted that the State Government’s free antenatal care and delivery services to indigenes and residents of Anambra State were part of Gov. Soludo’s palliative measures to cushion the effects of hardship in the state.
The Executive Secretary while noting that the palliative measure commences from September, urged health workers not to go against the governor’s mandate as the needed commodities for such services has been made available.
Speaking on the eHealth Card training, the ASPHCDA boss admonished health workers to pay rapt attention to the teachings as they were the solution to bringing better healthcare services to Ndi Anambra in their respective PHCs.
“Your participation in this training, gives the confidence that healthcare workers from the three LGAs of Dunukofia, Awka North and Oyi here present will be digitalized which makes us part of the Soludo’s Solution aimed at bringing health solution to Ndi Anambra.”
The Senior Operations Manager, Elephant Healthcare Nigeria, Mr Stephen Zorbari noted that the Anambra eHealth Card program which commenced in July 2023 was an initiative of State Government to digitalize all public primary and secondary healthcare facilities in the state.
“We started with PHCs in Awka South LGA and so far, we are scaling as we have launched the programme in Awka South, Njikoka, and Anaocha LGAs respectively while we have started training in Dunukofia, Awka North and Oyi LGAs.
“All facilities in these three LGAs were invited and are here for the training. They are sight champions as most of them are Officers-In-Charge, others are key/core staff within the facility and they are to be trained on how to use the eHealth system.
“For LGAs that have commenced with the eHealth system, there have not been key challenges recorded and so far, I will say we are making progress,” the Operations Manager said.
He commended the Anambra State Government for taking the bold step in ensuring that data are comprehensive and in real-time which would help in making informed decisions and a way of improving quality of healthcare at the PHC level.
“Elephant Healthcare as an organisation have continued to take feedbacks, part of the update is involment of some volunteers at the PHCs in this process so that they can help to ensure that learning/training is continuous and that knowledge is passed on.”
According to Mr Zorbari, Anambra State and its leaderships in the health sector’s initiative to transform and digitalize the healthcare system shows their concern on progress and success on the basic quality of healthcare services provided at the grassroots level.
The PHC Director, Dunukofia Local Government Health Authority (LGHA), Dr Chukwudi Njelita explained that the training which centres on electronic patient register is a digital way of registering patients that visit the health facility to enable them have their records digitally.
“So far, the two-day training has been highly impactful as people who do not have great knowledge of digital health record have been tortured.
“The healthcare digitalisation in Anambra will have a high success rate because the registration obtained in one PHC can be used in another as it is universal. The patients information cannot be distorted during revisits to the PHC.
“Secondly, there is already a library of drugs/medicines and diagnosis installed in the software which would aid the health worker recall possibly diagnosis and drugs to choose from.
“The system is simple and unique. It is a method used by hospitals in developed world and big private hospitals in Nigeria too, so with this initiative, the Soludo’s Government has succeeded in bringing up the status of PHCs in Anambra State,” Dr Njelita said.
Dr Chike Ohamobi, PHC Director, Awka North LGHA while noting that the eHealth Card, and the free antenatal/delivery services was a welcome development at the PHC level, thanked the State Government and its leaderships in the state’s health sector for the initiative.
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