The Lumine News

Category: Metro News

  • CRSG Flags Off BHCPF Training For Enumerators, Targets 700,000 Vulnerable Persons To Be Enrolled As The State Access Funds.

    CRSG Flags Off BHCPF Training For Enumerators, Targets 700,000 Vulnerable Persons To Be Enrolled As The State Access Funds.

    By Simon Ushie

    The Cross River State Government has flagged off the training exercise for enumerators, who will go into the field for health facilities assessment, as the state gets ready to access the Basic Health Care Provision Funds BHCPF, aimed at capturing and enrolling 700,000 vulnerable persons across the 18 Local Government Areas, to access free quality health care services in the state.

    Flagging off the training exercise in Calabar the Cross River State Capital, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Betta Edu urged participants to pay attention to the rules and guidelines surrounding enumerations, mapping and facility assessment.

    Dr. Edu said among other benefits, the scheme will help cushion the hardship faced by households when accessing Healthcare services.
    She further charged enumerators to be guided and perform their task with all sense of sincerity and a high level of integrity and said if proper information are not generated and laid down task accomplished, it could expose all Cross Riverians, irrespective of their social and political class to poor and ineffective healthcare supply.

    Speaking earlier, the Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong applauded the facilitators of the exercise, as she encouraged the participants to tap from their wealth of experience and technical expertise to ensure that Cross River State achieve maximum results in its quest to achieving Universal Health Coverage Status.

    Dr Ekpenyong further applauded the state Governor, Senator Ben Ayade for his huge investment in the health sector which she said has helped in reducing maternal and infant mortality and strengthening the believe system among Community members to seek supports for their health challenges in Government owned facilities.

    On his part, the Director General of the Cross River State Health Insurance Scheme, Chief Goddy Iyala said his Agency is poised to support all Agencies of Government both within the state and outside the state to ensure that success is achieved.

    He further called on transparency in obtaining data from relevant bodies which will aid planning and implementation as he said the Cross River State Health Insurance is one of the pioneer Agencies in the country to start enrollment and as such a reliable gateway to obtaining results.

    Facilitators from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency as well as the National Health Insurance Scheme applauded the State Government for prioritizing healthcare for it’s citizens as well as setting the template for other states to follow.

    Participants include Monitoring and Evaluation Officers drawn from the state Ministry of Health, the State Primary Healthcare Agency and the State Health Insurance Scheme are expected to be taught various methods of Facility rating using the Open Data Kit (ODK) to ascertain the quality of services being offered in each facility both in terms of client’s convenience, number of staff as well as a step down training for ward and Community leaders.

    The Basic Healthcare Provision Fund was borne out of the 2015 National Health Council meeting which stipulates that 1% of the Nation’s consolidated revenue should be earmarked to boost Healthcare services in states across the country.

    The program is aimed at providing succor to the Vulnerable including the Aged, Pregnant Women and children under the age of 5, poor Households and low income earners with the sole target of all states contributing to Nigeria attaining the universal Health Coverage Status.

    With the Government of Senator Ben Ayade meeting all the criteria for accessing the said funds, through the payment of counterpart funds and building standard health facilities, the training of enumerators and capacity building could just be the icing on the cake for the state to join other states in benefiting from the reserved funds which will not only help remodel some of our health facilities but as well help in drugs stocking and the hiring of health workers to meet the growing population.

  • Ekpenyong Charges Women To Stop Stigmatization Against Those Abused To Encourage Victims To Speak Out .

    Ekpenyong Charges Women To Stop Stigmatization Against Those Abused To Encourage Victims To Speak Out .

     

    With increasing figures of gender based violence in the society, and the discrimination that accompanies it, women across various professional bodies and interest groups are rising up in defense of those who do not have a voice to speak out for themselves.

    Some people have identified discrimination and “shaming” as some barriers hindering women from reporting cases of abuse both sexually, physically and even emotionally.

    It is on this premise that interest groups and individuals have risen to seek collaborative ways between themselves on how to support the female gender in expressing the deep pains they go through which may seem difficult for the society to understand.

    One of such forum organized to seek ways of helping these categories of oppressed people in the society, had the Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Janet Ekpenyong calling for an end to stigmatization of abused women to encourage them speak out.

    The DG was speaking at an advocacy meeting and training workshop organized by the “Gender And Development Action” which is aimed at creating political relevance to issues of gender based violence and violence against women and girls in calabar, the Cross River State Capital.

    Dr Ekpenyong said the need to tolerate women and victims who have suffered maltreatment has become imperative in order to encourage women speak out at various forums when molested either psychologically, emotionally or even physically.

    “If we don’t stigmatize women who have been abused or even those still being abused on a daily basis, I think more women will come out and speak out, they just need that acceptance, and that will surely be the beginning of their healing process”.

    She hailed the efforts of the Cross River State Governor to create a gender balanced society through his numerous appointments of women into key and sensitive positions which has proven that women too can be problem solvers and not just another burden to men.

    Dr. Ekpenyong further Enumerated efforts taken so far by her Agency(Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency) in assisting victims which she listed as, assisting victims to file complain with the law enforcement Agencies, free counselling, examination and treatment of victims with history of sexual violence as well as referrals for complicated cases.

    She therefore pledged her support and willingness to partner groups and bodies to ensure that cases of molestation are reduced to the barest possible points.

    Some other speakers who spoke called on the Cross River State House of Assembly to pass bills into law aimed at defending the female gender, sensitize women on their roles including ownership of properties ,improved education for the girl child as well as creating easy route for reporting and defending oppressed women in the society.

    In attendance were the Cross River State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Nigeria’s Former Ambassador to Ethiopia, Representative of Female Lawyers Association, Wives of Local Government Chairmen, Director of Community Health, CRSPHCDA, Director of Local Government Health Authority (Calabar Municipal and Calabar South), Heads of Gender based NGOs as well as some media practitioners.

  • Cross River Industrialization Drive Gets Major Boost; As UN Pledges Certification, Operations Support For CALAPHARM

    Cross River Industrialization Drive Gets Major Boost; As UN Pledges Certification, Operations Support For CALAPHARM

    By Admin

    The Cross River State Government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have finalised modalities to provide technical support for the completion, equipping, certification and operation of the state-owned Pharmaceutical Company, CALAPHARM.

    Arising from a meeting between the state government representatives and UNIDO Nigeria team during its working visit to the State, sequel to a meeting with Governor Ayade in Abuja where issues of State interest were discussed, the Commissioner for International Development Cooperation, Dr. Inyang Asibong said the discussions among other things centred on how the UN industrial organization will provide technical assistance that will enable CALAPHARM oommence operations.

    Asibong assured the Team of the State Government’s readiness to provide the necessary support in their quest to give technical know-how for the state-owned pharmaceutical company.

    The Commissioner explained that CALAPHARM is near completion, and when it begins full operations, will contribute to the Federal Government’s policy reliance on locally produced and environmentally-friendly pharmaceutical products in Nigeria.

    She seized the opportunity of the visit to make a clarion call on the Federal Government, the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other Donor organisations to take a cue from UNIDO by lending support to the industrialisation drive of Cross River State Government.

    Earlier in her remarks, the UNIDO Team Lead to Cross River, Mrs. Osaretin Jaiyeola, assured the State Government of the provision of the requisite technical assistance needed for the smooth takeoff of CALAPHARM.

    She lauded Prof. Ben Ayade’s initiative on the establishment of the CALAPHARM, adding that when it commences full operations would boost the economy of the state through the production of locally made drugs thereby strengthening the local content value-chain in the country.