BY CHRISTY ABOGHE
The Delta State Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) has promised to continually support the growth, enhance the capacity and provide enabling environment for the staff of Unified Local Government Service.
The Chairman of the Commission, Deacon Joseph Otirhue made the commitment during a two-day training workshop organised for 100 health educators and community health extension workers in local governments service by the commission, in collaboration with Provisol Integrated Services Limited in Ozoro, Delta State.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the seminar, Otirhue said that “primary healthcare remains the first and most critical level of the health system, noting that “it is in the rural clinics and health posts that most Nigerians have their first and sometime only contact with health services and as such, primary healthcare providers must be equipped to carry out their functions seamlessly”.
Otirhue said to make primary healthcare truly effective, health educators and community health extension workers have a vital role to play by engaging communities to build trust and empower individuals to take ownership of their health.
He revealed that the seminar was not only necessary but also very strategic for health educators and community health extension workers to be trained for them to be able to carry out their duties diligently.
The theme of the seminar, which was “Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization: Bedrock of Primary Healthcare Service delivery“, speaks directly to the core of the commission’s mission to strengthen community health from the ground.
Otirhue added that advocacy, communication and mobilization, which are the three pillars of primary healthcare service delivery, were not just tools but essential strategies in delivering effective, equitable and people-centred primary health care services.
