Nigeria Health Watch organized primary health care dialogue with the them ‘Strengthening Human Resources for Health and Achieving Sustainable Financing for Primary Health Care’.

In her welcome remarks, the Managing Director, Nigeria health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu stresses the importance of human resources for health and sustainable funding as one of the keys to the success of primary health care services at grassroot.

In his keynote address, the Commissioner of Health, Kano State Ministry of Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa stated that human resource for health and funding are parts the necessary ingredient needed to achieve universal health coverage, he therefore, call on all stakeholders at the meeting to join hands and move forward toward stronger human resource for health and sustainable funding.

He also outlines the achievements made by the ministry of health in making a robust human resource for health management system at primary health care management board, funding of primary health care services through Kano State Contributory Health Management Agency, KSCHMA, Kano State Health Trust Fund, KHETFUND, and others.

The Executive Secretary, Dr. Tijjani Hussaini, present a paper on ‘Human Resources for Health in PHCs: Progress, Challenges, Gaps, and Opportunities’. He went to outline these as its relate to Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board.

On the panel discussion, Issues on supply-demand of health workers, non-commitment of staff to work, upskilling of health workers, task-shifting, task-sharing policies, functionality of HRHMIS, decentralizing HRH, shorter courses for non-frontline health workers, experience/learning of HRH in other clime, innovative way to reach ‘hard-to-reach’ communities, synergy between relevant stakeholders towards maximizing the use of HRH, increase of private health training institutions, integrating Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors in health services, and many more.

The panel discussant includes Dr. Tijjani Hussaini, Mr. Paul Hogan, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, EHA clinics, Dr. Dayyabu Yusuf, Regional Manger, Society for Family Health, Dr. Ashiru Abubakar, Assosciate, PHC strengthening and Health Systems Support, Clinton Health |Access, CHAI, among others.

The general consensus among the various participants at the dialogue centred on the need of more funding of primary health care services.