A new partnership to transform health worker training in Nigeria

Medical Aid Films, in partnership with InStrat Global Health Solutions, Digital Campus and mPowering Frontline Health Workers, are working with Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Board, to launch a new tablet-based maternal and child health training curriculum for nurses, midwives, and community health workers in Ondo State, Nigeria.

The 12-week pilot programme supports in-service training for 200 health workers in 18 health centres in Ondo State, by providing high quality film-based training in both English and Yoruba.   Covering topics such as antenatal care,managing obstructed labour and how to resuscitate a newborn, the goal is to scale this programme to all 550 health facilities across Ondo State, training 5,400 health workers who deliver services to 1.4 million women.

Speaking at the programme launch Dr Dayo Adeyanju, Honorable Commissioner for Health for Ondo State, said “We hope to adopt this tool in our health institutions such as the Schools of Nursing, Health Technology and University of Medical Sciences. Getting to train workers has been quite challenging and this will help in solving this challenge. This will surely save cost and extend training coverage.”

Four additional State Primary Health Management Boards in Nigeria have expressed interest in the programme and the potential is vast.  It could be translated into other Nigerian languages for use across all States, playing a key role in providing millions of women and children with access to the quality care they need to survive and thrive.

Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Board’s Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Dr Yetunde Olagbuji, said “This is an innovation we will adopt and enforce to be a method for our trainings. We will also go further in exploring the opportunities it presents and put it to effective use. This will surely cement Ondo State’s agenda of delivering quality health care services.”

Nigeria is one of the economic powerhouses of Africa, yet it has amongst the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world.  This new programme aims to support improved training for health workers, potentially across all of Nigeria, to identify and manage complications early and provide the quality care in pregnancy and childbirth that women deserve.

Watch this space for more news on the programme, and contact us if you are interested in finding out more.