The World Health Organisation (WHO), has advised the federal government and partners on the need to scale up the health workforce registry.
The scaling up will enable it to cover the remaining states in the country, as well as the federal departments, agencies and parastatals, and the private sector.
Dr. Peter Clement, WHO’s Officer in Charge (OiC), gave the advice at the launch of the Nigeria Health Workforce Country profile -2018, and hand over the National Health Workforce Registry on Tuesday in Abuja.
News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the last health workforce profile of the country was in 2012.
The WHO in partnership with the 14 regulatory bodies and the Department of Health Planning, Research and Statistics, Federal Ministry of Health, (FMOH), had been able to support the updating of the Country’s Health Workforce Profile to 2018.
Clement said that the Federal Ministry of Health’s (FMOH), leadership should give approval and lead the migration of the registry to a sustainable hosting platform.
He advised that the registry should be managed by the ministry with a dedicated budget line instituted to ensure sustenance of the functionality of the registry.
He said that a strong and vibrant governance structure, led by the Minister for Health at the federal level and the Commissioners of Health at state levels, should be established.
“The structure will provide general oversight and guidance on the registry, including the use of the information for evidence-based health sector planning.
“We recommend that this function be integrated into the existing health information system governance structures, that is the Health Data Governance Council (HDGC) and Health Data Consultative Committee (HDCC),” he said.
The OiC said that dedicated, competent and skilled personnel, who were staff members of FMOH with clear roles and responsibilities, should be constituted to serve as the National Operational Team managing the registry.
According to him, mechanisms should be instituted to ensure that health workforce information, are updated periodically at all levels, as indicated in the National Health Workforce Registry Standard Operating Procedure.
He said that this would ensure that health workforce information in the registry was up-to-date.
He expressed the belief that the procedure would ensure the sustainability of the National Health Workforce Registry.
He reiterated that the WHO was committed to the continued partnership with the FMOH, donors, and partners in scaling-up and sustaining the functionality of the National Health Workforce Registry.
Clement added that to sustain the functionality of the National Health Workforce Registry, WHO coordinated the development of a Handbook on the national health workforce registry that was launched on Tuesday.
He said that the Nigerian registry would serve as a database for accurate and timely evidence-based health workforce information that linked health workers to administrative units and health facilities.
“The registry demonstrates Nigeria’s significant progress in achieving the Global Strategy for Human Resources for Health.
“Workforce 2030 milestone of every country having a registry to track health workforce dynamics and sharing HRH data annually through the National Health Workforce Account should be targeted,” he said.
He said it also had set the foundation for achieving the goal of the Strategic Pillar three and Priority Area nine, of the Second National Strategic Health Development Plan 2018 – 2022.
According to him, the plan will be having in place the right number, skill mix of competent, motivated, productive and equitably distributed health workforce, for optimal and quality health care service provision.
Dr. Emmanuel Meribole, Head of Department Health Planning, Research and Statistics FMoH, said that in collaboration with WHO the country had successfully updated and validated Nigeria’s health workforce profile from 2012 to 2018.
Meribole said that this was done with the funding from the government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC), under the “Enhancing the Ability of Frontline Health Workers to Improve Health in Nigeria” project.
“Validating the Nigeria Health Workforce Profile 2018 provides the national health workforce information needed for planning and it is a crucial milestone in the health sector, considering that the last country profile was developed and published in 2012,” he said.
He said that the journey of having a comprehensive and functional registry was very timely considering the need to plan for the health workforce in the country in view of the health indices in the recently released Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 2018.
“We can only improve the health indices by ensuring that the health workforce is accessible, qualified, well-trained, motivated, skilled and equitably distributed. To achieve this, we need strategic health workforce information.
“WHO, with funding from the government of Canada developed the prototype of the National Health Workforce Registry using the iHRIS Manage framework, which is being used in several countries globally.
“WHO also supported the roll-out of the registry in Bauchi and Cross River with funding from the Canadian government, through the Global Affairs Canada.
“(It also supported) Anambra and Sokoto states with funding from the European Union; Borno, Adamawa, Abia, Osun, Niger, and Edo; with funding from the government of Japan and WHO, ” he said.
He disclosed that the organization was also in the process of concluding the registry for Yobe state and added that the current registry, had health workforce information for 10 states in the country.
NAN
