Abuja, Nigeria 26 November 2014- The Federal Ministry of Health  (FMOH) on Tuesday, 25th November 2014 inaugurated the WHO-Canada/DFATD Project Steering Committee (PSC) in Abuja to provide general oversight  and  articulate the implementation of the  15m CND$ Canadian Government-supported Human Resource for Health (HRH) Project.

The project, aptly tagged ‘’Enhancing the ability of Frontline Health-workers to improve Health in Nigeria’’ is a 5 year comprehensive HRH intervention to empower frontline health workers, with an ultimate goal to bolster the health status/outcomes of infants, children, women and men in the country with focus at the Federal level and targeting Bauchi and Cross River, the 2 implementing states.

Delivering the welcome address, the WHO Country Representative Dr. Rui Gama Vaz restated the aim of the project which is to “address key HRH issues in Bauchi and Cross River States to enhance the availability of gender balanced, adequate numbers and appropriate mix of skilled, motivated and productive health workforce that is equitably distributed, efficiently managed and retained where required to serve the population with special attention for the poor, women, men and children.’’

Dr. Vaz further emphasized the need for both states to own and lead the process of implementation of the project as well as ensure the total buy-in by their respective state governors and all other stakeholders.

The Inaugural meeting which attracted an array of top dignitaries from the Federal and States government, WHO and Government of Canada was presided over by the chairman of the PSC who is also the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Linus Awute.

In a goodwill message, the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency Perry Calderwood echoed the commitment of the people and government of Canada towards “improving maternal, newborn and child health globally as reflected in her development cooperation programme in Nigeria” but quickly added that the challenge in  improving the health of Nigerians remains the inadequate number, mix, distribution and capacity of HRH.

An overview of the Project Implementation Plan (PIP), indicates that the project aims at tackling the enormous, very unequally-shouldered burden of disease in Nigeria and a health system that is grossly inadequate to meet these challenges. It also supports the Nigeria national health policy and the national strategic health development as well as the Presidential Declaration on Universal Health Coverage.

Increased use of evidence-based, gender-responsive policies, strategies and plans to manage health workforce; increased availability of qualified, skilled, motivated and productive frontline health workers; and improved partnerships and coordination for mobilizing sustainable health workforce resources in targeted states, are some of the expected outcomes of the 5-year PIP.

In closing, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Awute noted that implementation of the PIP and the AWP developed by WHO, the Population Council and Global Health Workforce Alliance, is critical and advised that as realities unfold, adjustments should be made on the project for the realization of efficient healthcare delivery in the states and in the country.

After due consideration, the Committee which includes the Commissioners of Health in Bauchi and Cross River, Provosts/Principals of Training institutions, Professional Regulatory bodies and other government agencies, gave approval of the Project Implementation Plan and the Annual Work Plan for the first year.