Stretching the Frontiers of Health Service Provision: The Bayelsa State Experience

Bayelsa State is located in the south-south geopolitical zone of Nigeria and straddled across the mangrove forests and swamps in the south of Nigeria. With a population of over 2 million people and an aerial coverage of around 21’000 square km, three-quarters of which lies under water, accessibility has remained a challenge for the teeming population. FHI360 Nigeria is currently implementing the Strengthening Integrated Delivery of HIV/AIDS Services (SIDHAS) project in the state supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nigeria. The State has an HIV prevalence rate of 9.1% with the SIDHAS project providing support to 102 health facilities. The supported health facilities provide a range of services including anti – retroviral therapy (ART) and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services and the facilities are categorized as comprehensive ART or PMTCT sites. The comprehensive sites provide both ART and PMTCT related services while the PMTCT sites provide only PMTCT related services. (more…)

Bound by Fetters of Tradition: Free at last

Eno Edet Sunday (female) and Effiong Edet Sunday (male) 13 and 10 years respectively, were born to the family of Edet Sunday in a remote community in Eyo Abasi, Oron Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State. They were orphaned early in life and were consequently taken in by their grandmother. She became their care giver but passed on subsequently. The orphaned duo found themselves alone once again. They dropped out of school and had to take up menial jobs to feed. As if this was not enough, the two siblings were abandoned by their only surviving uncle to live in the same house and compound with the corpse of their late grandmother. For two years, they slept and woke up each day not to the smiles of their loving grandmother but to the grim knowledge that her corpse was in the room adjacent to where they laid their tired bodies. Their agony and torment knew no bounds. Each night they cried themselves to sleep and whispered to each other in between their tears – “Why is this happening to us”……..    (more…)

HAPPY NEW YEAR from InsideNigeria and FHI 360

May your new year be blessed
with peace, love and joy.
Sending our heartfelt wishes
With joy that never ends.
Wishing you a very
Happy New Year

Piloting Laboratory Quality System Management in Six Health Facilities in Nigeria

Background

Achieving accreditation in laboratories is a challenge in Nigeria like in most African countries. Nigeria adopted the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa Stepwise Laboratory (Quality) Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (WHO/AFRO– SLIPTA) in 2010. We report on FHI360 effort and progress in piloting WHO-AFRO recognition and accreditation preparedness in six health facility laboratories in five different states of Nigeria. (more…)