Sola Ojo, Kaduna
In order to reduce high rate of maternal and child mortality in Nigeria, the Federal Government is engaging 100,000 agents under the Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) programme.
This was disclosed by Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib.
CHIPS is a community-based programme where individuals with basic criteria including commitment, agility, among others, would be selected by traditional institutions to carry out basic medical needs of the people in their communities, diagnose and call on the next port of call, when necessary.
Successful individuals must be resident within the community and would be adequately trained before deployed to render the services the programme is targeted.
Shuaib , in an interview with newsmen shortly after the first meeting with Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery, in Kaduna, on Monday said, the development became necessary because Nigeria was losing about one million women and children to preventable medical conditions.
According to him, “The gathering of the northern traditional committee on PHC here today is to review what we were able to achieve in 2017 and strategising for high priority intervention in our communities this year.
“This means going back to the basis, the community to engage the traditional institution knowing full well that we cannot have meaningful progress as regard to provision of healthcare services to our people without listening to them.
“This is in furtherance of CHIPS programme that was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari two weeks ago in Nasarawa state where he asked us to roll it to every state through the traditional institution as closest to the people at grassroots.
“This became necessary because Nigeria is losing about one million women and under 5 children to totally preventable causes on yearly basis. Women are dying from bleeding before getting to facilities while children are also dying from malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.
“So to reduce these deaths, these CHIPS agents will be living and working in their communities. For example, if there is complication around pregnancy, these CHIPS agents can raise alarm. It is all about reducing maternal and child deaths in the communities”.
He said further that, the success of the initiative is on the traditional rulers, as “they are expected to engage with their state government and other opinion leaders.
“We have packaged what the people are saying. It is now left to the traditional leaders to sustain it. This is because governors will not be there for long but they will be there.
“10 CHIPS agents are to be engaged per ward and if you multiply that by about 10,000 wards we have you will see it will be the largest network of community health workers in Africa. There is excitement on how this will benefit our communities”, he added.
Responding on behalf of the traditional leaders, Emir of Argungu in Kebbi State and Deputy Chairman, Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on PHC, Alhaji Samaila Mohammed Mera, promised to make the programme work as envisaged by the Federal Government and other interested organisations.
The Emir said, “This is our responsibility. We don’t have to be coarsed before we do that because we are talking of safety of our women and children. We have started already because this is something we have idea of. We will take the lesson back to our various states for prompt implementation.
“We have put the responsibility on the village and ward heads to select CHIPS agents base on what they can do and not what they are to you in person. We told them we will hold them responsible if the programme failed under their watch”.