By Aisat Alimi
An NGO, the Momentum Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics (MSSFPO) Project, on Monday commenced the training of health workers on the use of data for decision making.
Participants at the training were staffers from selected secondary and tertiary health facilities from across Sokoto State.
MSSFPO is a USAID-funded project implementing interventions to strengthen surgical safety within maternal health and voluntary family planning programmes by promoting evidence-based approaches, testing new innovations, and scaling up proven practices.
The facilitator, Mr Nasiru Muhammad, said the training was aimed at strengthening the capacity of service providers on the use of data generated from their respective health facilities for evidenced-based decision making which would lead to improved service delivery.
Muhammad, who is the project’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Coordinator in Sokoto state said that participants were trained on improved service provision through identification of problems and challenges.
He said the training will equip the Medical Record Officers, Principal Medical Officers and Maternity staff on analyzing, interpretation and use of data for decision making as well as onward action to implement MNCH programmes in their health facilities.
Muhammad added that the healthcare workers were motivated to identify issues based on data generated from their facility and developed action plans for improved service delivery.
According to him, the overall focus was to increase team capacity and efficiency in data management and its maximum use.
He explained that participants were expected to be conversant with data criteria selection, synergy among healthcare workers for improved service delivery and decision making.
Another Facilitator, Umar Abdulrazaq, said the project has introduced ” Robson classification” a global standard tool for assessing, monitoring and comparing caesarean section rates both within and between healthcare facilities.
Abdulrazaq said if effectively utilized, the tool would help in assessing the quality of the data collected and raise staff awareness about the importance of data, its interpretation and use.
He added that MSSFPO has introduced World Health Organizations (WHO)’s surgical safety checklist aimed at increasing the safety of patients undergoing surgery if well administered by reducing the complication rates during the surgical process.
Mr Miftahu Yahaya, the project’s MERL Coordinator in FCT, explained that the 5-year USAID funded project is in Nigeria to accelerate reductions in maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity by increasing the capacity of country institutions.
Yahaya added that the project also included local organizations to introduce, deliver, scale-up, and sustain the use of evidence-based, quality prevention and treatment of obstetric fistula.
This includes through strengthening the quality and safety of surgical obstetric care, and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
