The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Bayelsa State Government, has trained directors, accountants, programme officers and immunisation officers of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the local governments in Bayelsa State.
The programme was part of the measures by the global body and the state government to ensure proper use of resources for PHCs in the state.
The two-day workshop, which held in Yenagoa, the state capital, was targeted at delivering the PHC Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by UNICEF, Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI) and the state government.
On the significance of the training, health specialist and UNICEF Rivers Field Officer, Dr Eghe Abe, said the workshop was aimed at helping imbibe financial discipline in professionals that operate the PHCs in Bayelsa.
He said with the PHC, being the nearest to the people, the programme was a sure way of getting it right and to improve outcome for women and children in the state.
He added that the training was to build capacity of the council team such as the directors of the PHC, the accountants, some of the programme officers, local immunisation officers, the routine immunisations officers and the councils to understand and appreciate the financial systems that are needed to make the project work.
Abe said the project, if well implemented, would do a lot to improve the lot of the children and women as well as improve the health indices in the state.
He said the indices in Bayelsa were not very good, noting that the project, if well implemented with the support of stakeholders, the communities as well as local governments, they would succeed and that would mean a lot for the women and children in the state.
“The procedure we are talking about, if properly implemented, will strengthen the system, but if it is not, will mean that there is a lot of work to be done in the system and it will come with improved funding. Our idea for this training is to let the state know what we want to do and to make them appreciate what is being done.
“The training will help in ensuring financial discipline. It is not totally different from what is expected from a state but to further buttress it and for them to know what is right and what should be done,” he added
