More Access To Health In Rivers …As RSG Partners ICRC In Rural Coverage

As part of measures to improve healthcare delivery, the Rivers State Government said it has put measures in place to ensure there is safe access to healthcare institutions, facilities and workers across the communities in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Theophilus Odagme, made this disclosure in Port Harcourt during a press interview on the resolution of the various stakeholders in the healthcare sector, following discussions of various committees constituted on April 12, 2016 to find workable solutions that could bridge the gaps that threaten healthcare in rural communities in the state.
Odagme said: “This meeting is put in place today, with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in a bid to talk policy issues identified by the various stakeholders. We have looked at the legal frame work to ensure that we make healthcare safe. When we talk about healthcare, we are talking about the health facilities, workers and everyone that needs to be attended to in the health sector, so that they are safe.”
He noted that various groups such as the security agencies, healthcare workers, civil society organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were involved, noting that there was the need for the formulation of strategies to reach all stakeholders.
According to him, “We try to formulate strategies to reach them at the community levels, in the creeks, wherever they are, so they have respect for healthcare system and facilities because when healthcare is affected, whether by kidnap of a healthcare worker or attack on healthcare institution or any healthcare facility, including ambulances, the community suffers.
“So, by this collaboration with ICRC, we want to stem the tide of attacks on the healthcare workers, facilities and system because it is not the business of healthcare institutions alone, it affects the communities too”.
Odagme emphasised that in order to stem the tide, all stakeholders, including the Rivers State Government, ICRC, private practitioners, CSOs, Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), the security agencies, among others, must be involved.
Odagme emphasized further that one of the ways to minimize healthcare deficit in the state is by incorporating the trained ICRC volunteers from the various communities, among others, to play their part in ensuring sustainability of the quality healthcare delivery in the communities.
The Head of ICRC South-East in Port Harcourt, Mrs Dorsa Nazemi-Salman, recalled that on April 12, 2016, the ICRC and other stakeholders charted a way forward to reduce ‘Healthcare In Danger,’ including how to tame violence against healthcare workers and facilities, and added that support of all was needed to achieve desired results.
Dorsa said: “With all the stakeholders put in place to decide how these issues could be addressed, by proffering solutions on the way forward in collaboration with CSOs, other international organizations, MWAN, I am very optimistic that we are going to have some positive results that would enable unhindered access by rural dwellers to healthcare services.”
She emphasized that ICRC, as an independent humanitarian and a neutral organization, has always engaged with community members before entering communities, noting that Rivers was one of the few states in the country benefiting from its intervention programme to address the threats posed to healthcare in rural communities, especially ravaged by violence and conflicts.
Dorsa listed other states to include Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Nasarawa, and appealed to communities affected by cult-related violence, and other conflicts to encourage healthcare providers, protect facilities and institutions to save more lives and promote sustainability of quality healthcare delivery in the state.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana