By Newslineglobal.com
Enugu State Government on Wednesday, launched the Enugu state Health Partners Coordination Forum(ESHPCF), aimed at strengthening the health system in the state.
Performing the launch at Amadeo event centre ,Enugu, the Deputy Governor of Enugu state Hon(Mrs) Cecelia Ezeilo, emphasised the need for effective and efficient coordination of the activities of all the healthcare partners in the state., noting that the situation of Enugu state , “has made it necessary that multiple healthcare interventions and service delivery roles and platforms, must exist in the public healthcare system.
She went on , “Premised on the foregoing narratives, the Enugu state Government through the ministry of health partners the World Health Organisation(WHO) in revatilising the State Health Partners ordination Forum ( ESHPCF), for a strong , responsive, , multi- level, and resilient health partners ‘ coordination in the state..”
Ezeilo listed some objectives of ESHPCF as follows, “to strengthen efficiency and accountability of health sector stakeholders and partners towards health system in the state . To provide a platform for strategic health programming, decision- making by both government and partners . To support the state in aggravation of available health resources for development and implementation of health sector strategic plans. To support the state to coronate, monitor and evaluate the activities of partners and to provide a platform for health policy dialogue, advocacy and resource mobilization.
The Deputy Governor said that the Forum’ s Secretariat will act as a physical interface and coordinate hub between the state ministry of health and health partners in the state. It will ensure adequate monitoring mechanism are put in place, periodically assess performance of partners , using agreed performance monitoring toos among others
She thanked the health partners especially , the WHO and UNICEF, for their support in the development of the public healthcare system .
In his address, Enugu state Commissioner for health, Dr Emmanuel Ikechukwu, disclosed that the vision of ESHPCF is,” improved health service delivery and health outcomes for people of Enugu state through timely, predictable, appropriate and effectively coordinated health action.
“The mission is to collectively support Enugu state government to strengthen her health system for improved health and well-being of her citizens,”; he said.
In his Goodwill message, the representative of WHO, Dr Chika Okoro, expressed optimism that the partnership and engagement strategy will enhance the Government’s ability to coordinate and engage all health sector actors including donors, partners, CSOs, that are critical for the state health development targets as it channels the resources of all health sector partners towards maximizing public health impact in the state.
“I expect this will foster greater partner engagement, harmonization of program to eliminate duplication, nurture accountability and transparency, efficiency and value for money in health programnñng. This strategy of a revitalized ESHPCF ,will create synergy to actualise common goals to address state health needs,” he said.
On his part, representative of the Catholic Caritas Foundation, Nigeria , Fabian Bassey, assured support to Enugu state government. He said that the centre which was established in 2017 ,had over 70,000 patients receiving treatment(Anti+Retroviral Therapy).
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Permanent secretary, ministry of health, Dr. Ifeanyi Agujiobi , noted that all.partners are equal and autonomous. He appeals to the agencies to always inform the ministry of health on what is happening.
Highlight of the event was donation of office equipment to Enugu state ministry of health.