The Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, has described Community Health Officers (CHO), are very key, if health for all was to be achieved in the country, as they remained the closest to the community where Doctors and other healthcare personnel may not be readily available.
Mamora, told Newsmen, in Monday, in Abuja, while enlightening on their importance, that they had capacity to identify, treat and refer, as applicable, when they come across a patient with a disease or infirmity.
“By 1980, the training of CHOs commenced in nine Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria for a course duration of one academic session. However, in 2006, the training curriculum for this programme was enlarged and revised upwards and the course duration became two years.
“Thus, it means that to be qualified as a Community Health Officer, you must have spent 5 years in the school. The essence of this is to ensure that a large number of competent health professionals is produced for the Nigerian populace.
“True to the vision of the founding fathers of the profession of community health, this category of health workers has become very helpful in providing health services in remote and hard-to-reach parts of the country and in some cases, in urban slums.
“I also dare to say that registered Community Health practitioners have been diligent in the provision of service to Nigerians as they have useful health management tools, which include the “Standing Order” that provides useful guidance in diagnosis and management of common health conditions,” he explained.
While commending the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board (CHPRBN), the minister noted that they had been working with relevant stakeholders like the FMOH, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and development partners, to regularly review both the training curricula and “Standing Order” for the training of its health workers in training institutions.
“This has made it possible for registered practitioners to keep abreast with developments in the profession. As a dynamic regulatory body, the FMOH is also aware that the CHPRBN promotes the acquisition of new and relevant knowledge by making Continuing Professional Development (CPD) one of the conditions for the renewal of licences of registered practitioners.
“For effective healthcare delivery, there must be adequate training of officers that constitute the driving force for health care services,” he explained.
