Stakeholders dialogue on domestication of 'task shifting and task sharing (TSTS) in Awka

CYNTHIA CHIDIMMA IGBOKWE in this report for www.odogwublog.com said that about one hundred active players in heath institutions in Anambra state were in Awka on Friday for a policy dialogue and workshop training at Geogold hotels, Awka on the domestication of a project termed 'task shifting and task sharing"(TSTS) as proposed by South Saharan Social Development (SSDO), funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation through DRPC.

TSTS is aimed at strengthening the health care services in the state hence other health workers, representatives from health institutions and State Ministry of Health, Civil society organizations and pharmacists as well as the media were in attendance in pushing the need for the state government to adopt Task Shifting and Task Sharing to bridge the gap and short falls of health professionals in health care delivery.

Facilitator of the programme Mr. Andrew Igbo explained that TSTS was introduced in 2014 , by the National Council on Health and was approved by all the Commissioners of Health from the thirty six states and the Federal Capital Territory , decrying government’s inability to make trainees and counterpart fund available for the policy to kick off in earnest.

Earlier, one of the coordinators, Mr. Stanley Ilechukwu gave an over view of result of Anambra state Health indicators as at 2017 when it was recorded that Anambra is doing excellently well in immunization programmes for children under the age of one including polio vaccination yellow fever, tuberculosis and measles among others.

He however expressed worry that only ten percent of the pregnant women in 2017 slept under treated mosquito nets.

On his part, the Acting Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health Dr Ogochukwu Ndibe said that TSTS is a policy that is result oriented only when those trained, center their practices on the training received pointing out that there are medical areas that are not to be practiced by non-professionals.

He hinted that the state government is making efforts to ensure that the policy is officially domesticated.

The Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Agency, Dr Chioma Ezenyimulu and Dr Obiageli Uchebo explained that at present , there are thirty five General Hospitals and five hundred and sixty five Health Centers that are fully operational across the state, adding that government, apart from training the students in various health institutions , equally run an on- the- job training for professionals and health tutors.

In her remarks, Rev Sister Nnorom Raphaelmaria of school of Nursing Ihiala pleads with all those concerned with the policy implementation to accept it with some level of maturity especially in the rural areas to avoid causing more harms than good.