THE newly appointed Executive Secretary (ES), Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ASPHCDA), Mrs. Chisom Uchem has applauded Gov. Charles Soludo for appointing her to pilot the affairs of the Agency.
Mrs. Uchem who reiterated her commitment to her job thanked the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike for his support and the emeritus ES ASPHCDA, Dr. Chioma Ezenyimulu for the dynamic ways in which she managed the Agency.
She said this during a one-day World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored meeting with Local Immunization Officers (LIOs) and Monitoring and Evaluation Officers (M&Es) of the 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state in Awka.
She charged the LIOs and M&Es to put in their best in the discharge of their duties, saying, “to function effectively, you must first of all have the will and zeal which will enable you to get the work done”.
While commending them for their selflessness and commitment toward the discharge of their jobs, the new ES noted that it was a new dawn and phase which called for a new/fresh commitment for them to give their best.
“We are aware, that this new commitment might also bring/lead to new challenges but these we shall tackle as they come. Though we do not have a perfect system yet, we are gearing toward perfection, so any challenges that come will be tackled together as a team.
“The staff welfare is top of my priority as one cannot function effectively if incapacitated. We will bring in a human face to this work and make it look like work between brothers and sisters,” she assured.
According to her, anything that will aid your job move effectively will be added into the system. We have Partners who always support us and we will also leverage their support and strength.
“There will be a performance review and awards will be given to the best performing LIO and M&E as we would want to encourage best practices,” Mrs. Uchem added.
The ES noted that the present challenges of the officers would be structured boldly in their platform and tackled on an immediate, short, and long-term basis.
She, then, urged the officers to let the commitment to their job speak for them as it is with their data that they could be empowered.
The WHO M&E, Mr. Ndubisi Oji while commending the new ES said that with her leadership in ASPHCDA, the state would do great exploits in Immunization.
“For us in WHO, what we always escalate is adherence to procedures and protocols thereby ensuring that our coverage is met.’’
Mr. Oji urged the LIOs and M&Es to continuously give their best as they have the backing of the new ES to ensure that they are result oriented.
“We encourage teamwork as we collaborate, leverage, and synergizes to enable us to achieve our objectives.
“A very key component in service delivery which is currently been tracked now is; People’s Centered Health Service Delivery. This means that beyond providing care in health facilities, we are tracking how clients/patients are been managed,” he explained.
The WHO M&E assured the ES that his organization is behind her and available in aiding to fill gaps where necessary.
“For us in WHO, we have a couple of training that will happen within the year and it will be based on where gaps are recognized as we will ensure that untrained staff ara well trained to deliver effectively.
“Let us always try to meet our target, so that we will be encouraged to do more. This is a new administration with energy and prospects and we will give our support which depends on results,” he said.
The UNICEF Vaccine Security and Logistics (VSL) Officer, Mr. Stanley Osum who was newly posted to Anambra State noted that his duty was to support the state the same way he had supported other states in the past.
According to him, We are here to ensure that UNICEF support to Anambra State is consistent and also accounted for. He, then, congratulated the ES on her appointment.
The State Immunization Officer (SIO), Mrs. Edith Onwuka appealed to the new ES to make Immunization a priority as it is one of the core programmes of the Agency.
“The essence of preventive medicine cannot be over-emphasised as prevention is always better than cure,” she said.
Mrs. Onwuka spoke on the need for the timely release of State counterpart funds which according to her, was an indicator for judging the performance/commitment of the State by the National.
She noted some challenges faced by the State Immunization Office which includes the non-functional Office vehicle of the Unit, which was donated to them in 2007 by the National Programme on Immunization (NPI).
She, however, pleaded for a functional utility vehicle to aid the State Immunization unit in the supervision of LGAs. “This will aid fill some gaps and support especially, the non-performing LGA teams.”
Mrs. Mary-Regina Okonkwo, Onitsha North LGA M&E Officer, and Mrs. Uju Uzowulu, Nnewi North LGA LIO both stressed on challenges faced in the discharge of their duties.
The duo noted that both the LIOs and M&Es faced similar challenges which hindered them from effective service delivery.
Some of the challenges faced by them include; non-functional office laptops, incentives for data collection, and logistics incurred in course of discharging their duties such as the collection/movement of vaccines from the state cold store to their respective LGAs.
Others are; inadequate office space suffered by some of the staff, support for monthly meetings and training, as well as retraining of the LGA health workforce.
They both urged that the State team always visits the LGAs for supervision and monitoring as it will ensure that the LGA health workers sit/buckle up in the discharge of their duties.