ASABA/Nigeria: Ahead of the 2018 second round National Immunization Plus Days (NIPDs), health educators has been charged to increase awareness and prompt information delivery to improve the service delivery in primary health centres.
The Executive Director of the Delta State Primary Health Care Development Agency (DSPHCDA) Dr Jude Winful-Orieke, who gave the charge today while declaring open a one-day training for Health Educators, said that the success or failure of health services was hinged on social mobilization.
Dr Winful-Orieke emphasized that social mobilization which is the duty of health educators was a powerful instrument in primary health care, adding that they should mobilize more in ensuring the success of the NIPDs.
He said the state government in partnership with WHO and UNICEF had a lot of health services in line with the Health for all Deltans Agenda of the State Government that are beneficial to Deltans as such no one should be exempted from it.
The Executive Director used the platform to implore the Health Educators to utilize all avenues in reorienting the populace about the safety of the routine immunization and other services rendered in primary health centers.
In her remarks, the World Health Organization (WHO) State Coordinator, Dr Mrs Chinonye Emefiele, disclosed that the WHO had set up monitoring team to visit the various local government areas to ensure total compliance with the programme.
She said that for the state to record high in this exercise and prevent incidences of missed children, Health Educators should work as a team with other health workers and devise means of reaching ‘hard to reach’ areas.
The UNICEF Vaccines Safety and Logistician, Mr Brown Atenaga, while discussing on the importance of social mobilization, said that Health Educators according to the Alma Ata declaration on Primary Healthcare Centres, were vital tool in health Information
He challenged the them to brace up to their responsibilities as their profession was being threatened by charlatans in the health sector.
