Ondo to boost reproductive health services through partnership

The Ondo State Government has partnered with the Lifespring Development Foundation (LSDF) to strengthen the management of healthcare commodities and prevent shortages and wastage, particularly of sexual and reproductive health supplies.

 

The partnership is expected to improve record-keeping and data management on healthcare commodities needed for family planning, maternal and child health, and other reproductive health services across the state.

 

Speaking at a two-day commodity forecasting and quantification training for health workers on Friday, the State Reproductive Health Coordinator and Deputy Director of Family Health in the Ministry of Health, Dr Toyin Adeyalo-Ogundare, said the collaboration had positively impacted women of reproductive age and children in the state.

 

She said the partnership with LSDF began earlier in the year as part of the implementation of the Federal Government’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Project.

 

“It is a partner that has been with us since the beginning of this year. It is a consortium with another group. So they are implementing an SRH project by the Federal Government.

 

“So Ondo State is part of the beneficiary and this partnership is in three local governments – Ondo West, Ese Odo and Ifedore,” she said.

 

Adeyalo-Ogundare explained that the workshop, organised by LSDF in conjunction with the logistics management unit of the Ministry of Health, was designed to build the capacity of personnel responsible for forecasting and managing reproductive health commodities.

 

“This will help us to be able to forecast what we need using what we have used, data that we have used to forecast or to predict what we are likely to use so that we can, as much as possible, avoid understocking and expiry of healthcare commodities,” she said.

 

She noted that the commodities procured by the government covered maternal and child health, family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services.

 

According to her, analysing consumption patterns at health facilities would enable the government to determine the commodities most in demand and identify the reasons for low utilisation or shortages.

 

“When you look at this data coming from the facilities, you can see that for this month, how regular are people coming and what kind of services out of the family planning should be offered, different types of family planning offers, which one are they using the most?

 

“Then when it is less, we look at it: why is it less? Is it because the commodities are not available in the facility? Or is it because they have finished using it quickly? So that’s what we are trying to look at and it will help us to make informed decisions,” she said.

 

Earlier, the LSDF State Team Lead, Mercy Okeyode, said the training was aimed at strengthening the state’s health system by improving the capacity of personnel responsible for forecasting and managing reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health commodities.

 

Okeyode said the workshop complemented previous investments in training healthcare providers and was designed to ensure the availability of essential commodities at health facilities.

 

“The availability will thereby support quality service delivery and improve maternal health outcomes.

 

“The training is expected to enhance the capacity of participants to generate accurate forecasts, improve commodity distribution, reduce stock-outs and wastage, and strengthen the overall health supply chain in Ondo State,” she said.