In this Interview with REGIS ANUKWUOJI, the executive secretary Enugu State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Ifenyinwa Ani Osheku spoke, among other issues, on how the government is building trust in the state primary health facilities to the effect that people now go through assessment, particularly health officers, before engagement. Excerpts:
Why is the state adopting the computer based test in recruitment of health officers?
What we are witnessing today is the first day of the (CBT) which is the computer-based test screening, which is a fall out of recruitment of healthcare workers that would work in our primary health care centres. A while ago, His Excellency, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah approved a total of 450 health care workers that will work in our primary health care centres space, as a result of new modern type two, primary health centres he is constructing presently in Enugu State. Each of these centres is supposed to be located, one in each of the political wards, meaning that we will have a total of 260 new brand new Type 2 health care facilities, but again you must agree with me that human resource is the biggest aspect of any sector, especially the health care sector and that is why we are desirous to bring in new people and new energy into the primary health care space.
What is the number of persons you are going to engage considering the number of people that came for the interview?
We are picking a total of 450 health care workers and these 450 will cut across 11 carders; we are going to be taking doctors, that is medical officers, pharmacists, medical lab scientists, nurses, technicians, laboratory technicians, medical record officers, community extension, health workers, junior community health extension workers, security personnel as well as cleaners. At the end of our application process; we had a huge number of persons who applied; we had over 7,400 people who applied, after cleaning up our data meaning that some people have double application or incomplete application; we then narrowed to 6,700 persons who applied for the job of about 450. However, I will like to say that all hope is not lost because, His Excellency, part of his mandate is to ensure that there is zero poverty rate in Enugu; he understands that there is a huge gap out there in terms of market workforce and this is not just in the health sector alone. A couple of weeks ago, we witnessed a similar situation in the academic sector; so, the plan is to have healthcare workers come in phases so that it will allow the government enough time to plan adequately for their enumeration. So, all hope is not lost; after this, we will definitely be bringing in more health workers.
What steps are you taking to ensure that the right people are selected?
The first process was for people to express their interest and expression of interest starts with you applying on the application portal which they have successfully done. In order for us to have an unbiased system that is free and fair and in order for us to have people who are eligible to fill up that positions, health is a very delicate issue, we need to bring in people who are capable and will ensure the safety of Ndi Enugu State and that is why this particular screening is very important. At the end of this screening we will then be able to have a crop of people who are certified that will then work in our primary healthcare space strictly on merit.
Why is the government more interested in the primary health care sector?
I will like to give my profound appreciation to His Excellency because he does have a mind for the people of Enugu State, especially in the health care sector. He has often said that primary health is like a baby because any government structure that understands the importance of health knows that primary health is the first bedrock of any health sector; what we mean by that is that statistic has shown that primary health service is more than enough to certify up to 85 to 95percent of a health need of any community. So, if you take care of your primary health, it means that you have reduced the number of individuals going for the secondary facility as well as tertiary facility; I will also like to let Ndi Enugu know that we are building trust in our primary health care centres, with what is happening today. Imagine that prior to this time, people will just be recruited without passing any kind of assessment exam but that’s no longer the case, because we are so desirous to make Enugu State one of the healthiest in the whole country. Our primary healthcare centres he is building will be fully equipped with the state of the-art-modern equipment; it will also have staff quarters, it will boost of alternative power supply, that is 24 energy supply to ensure that healthcare workers in that facility provides all the care that they are supposed to provide. In addition, what we are also testing here is computer literacy, because all of our facilities will be digitalised to ensure that individuals can operate the system and most importantly, trainable.
