Health: NGO lament hike in fuel price, transportation
A nurse attends to mothers whose children are suffering malnutrition in a clinic set up by health authorities in collaboraion with Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders (MSF)in Katsina State, northwest Nigeria, on July 20, 2022. - Rural northwest Nigeria has been ravaged by gangs of bandit militias who raid villages, loot cattle and kidnap people to hold them for ransom in camps deep in the forests that carpet large swaths of the region. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced across the northwest and central regions, and thousands killed in violence rivalling the impact of the 13-year jihadist conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP) (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)
By Amarachukwu Egwu-Agha, Abakaliki
A Non Governmental Organisation known as Integrated Supervision Support (ISS) has lamented the increase in fuel and transportation prizes.
The organization saddled with the supervision of major Primary Health care noted high cost of fuel and transportation has negatively affected the frequency and coverage of Primary Healthcare Centers in the states where they are domiciled.
ISS is said to be a cluster of 6 different NGOs namely, Life Transformation for Africa Initiative (LIFT4AFRICA), Council for Affirmative Action (COFA), Women with Disability integrity & Development Initiative (WDIDI), Bauchi State Network of Civil Societies (BASNEC), She-Alert Care Foundation (SHE-ALERT) and Better Life Restoration Initiative (BERI) implementing the scale project of the United State Agency for International Development, USAID with the aim of improving health care service delivery.
Program Manager of LIFT4AFRICA, Mr. Ezeani Chiemezie in a round table chat with the media at the weekend said the program is a 5 year project implemented by Palladium in collaboration with Nigeria Resource Partners (RPs).
He said, “The Health System Strengthening Cluster is implementing a project titled; Improved Quality Healthcare Service Delivery through Integrated Supportive Supervision (ISS).
“The cluster comprises of six civil society organizations across the country viz; Life Transformation for Africa Initiative (LIFT4AFRICA), Council for Affirmative Action (COFA), Women with Disability integrity & Development Initiative (WDIDI), Bauchi State Network of Civil Societies (BASNEC), She-Alert Care Foundation (SHE-ALERT) and Better Life Restoration Initiative (BERI) serving as the anchor organization.
“The Cluster is implementing The Scale project a USAID-funded 5-year project (Oct. 2020 – Oct. 2025), implemented by Palladium in collaboration with Nigeria Resource Partners (RPs).
“Integrated Supportive Supervision (ISS) is an intervention that facilitates quality improvement by ensuring adequate oversight as well as skills and knowledge transfer to health care service providers. ISS has been accepted, tested and proven to enhance the performance and effectiveness of health care workers.
The current structure and placement of Integrated Supportive Supervision (ISS) is suboptimal and, therefore, limits the capacity of integrated supportive supervision to effectively engage through a sector-wide approach for effective implementation.
“Domestic financing support for Integrated Supportive Supervision is inadequate and there is high dependency on donor funding.
“High Cost of Fuel and Transportation is Negatively Impacting ISS Activities in all the Target States. The current hike in fuel prices and its attendant high cost of transport has negatively affected the frequency and coverage of Primary Healthcare Centers, especially health facilities located in hard-to-reach communities,”
