NAN-H-22
Training
Bauchi, Nov. 3, 2016 (NAN) The Bauchi State Health care Development Agency has advised policy makers in the state health sector to adopt data from research findings to reduce infant and maternal mortality in the state.
The Chairman of the agency, Mr Adamu Gamawa, said this on Thursday in Bauchi during the training on “ Moving Evidence to Policy Project’’.
It was organised by the Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN) in collaboration with the West African Health Organisation.
Gamawa said: “Results of data collected at the end of researches will be a stepping stone for policy makers to improve on maternal, neo- natal and child care in the state.
“There should be a connection between research and implementation so that the data can be used to formulate policies that can reduce maternal and infant mortality as well as improve primary health care,’’ he said.
Also, the chairperson of FOMWAN Bauchi Chapter, Hajiya Yagana Gidado, in her remarks said that Toro Local Government was selected for the pilot exercise.
Gidado said that `house visit’ was selected as the method used in conducting the research on issues affecting mothers and their children.
“For the pilot exercise, we chose the `house visit method’ to enable us to bypass the structural obstacles that prevent women from attending pre-natal meetings.
“We spoke, one-on-one, with women and men to educate them on symptoms and dangers of maternal issues as well as preventions and the way forward.
“From the data collected so far, we have started recording behavioural change; more people have begun to visit hospitals on issues affecting their health.
“We intend to disseminate the findings of this research to the appropriate policy makers so that the data result will be used by government and non-governmental organisations in formulating policies on maternal health,’’ she said.
Gidado commended the agency for its support in the on-going research and pledged to spread the exercise to the 20 local government areas in the state.
Earlier in his speech, Dr Emel Johnson, an official of West African Health Organisation, said that the goal was to improve the health situations of mothers , child and new-born through strengthening of the system.
He said that Bauchi State was selected as the first centre for such training because of its numerous health care activities and applauded the state government for the effort.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day training had participants from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as NGOs in the state. (NAN)
AE/HAS/PAD
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Edited By Hajia Sani, controlled by Peter Dada