Gombe Health Ministry meets Partners for enhanced service delivery
The Gombe State Ministry of Health has held Partners Forum with the theme “Together we build our health”, supported by World Health Organisation, The Challenge Initiative TCI and New Initiatives All Babies are Equal NI ABAE.
Declaring the Forum opened, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health Alhaji Danladi Adamu, said the Ministry Of Health deemed it necessary to bring together all Non-Governmental Organisations both national and International donors supporting the health sector to discuss their activities.
The aim he added, is for the ministry to know what each partner is doing so it can monitor the progress vis a vis what the state government is doing.
He said the Ministry Of Health conceived the idea that there are so many partners supporting the health activities hence the need to bring them together
Adamu said the ministry now know the exact number of partners supporting the ministry of health in various activities ranging from immunisation, nutrition maternal child health and that the ministry is now tracking and monitoring their activities and progress.
He reminded the partners to always send monthly and quarterly reports to the ministry .
He then appreciated the state government for the payment of counterpart funds to partners
Stating the objectives of the partners Forum, the Director Planning, Research and Statistics Dr Suraj Abdulkarim, said it is to strengthen donor Coordination by identifying gaps for donor intervention in the state, to ensure visibility into the contributions being made by different partners to the implementation of the state’s strategic and operational heath plans and to collaboratively brainstorm on potential strategies efficiency and coordination of implementation.
He said through the engagement every partner supporting the health sector will be carried alone to ensure coordination of activities so as to avoid duplication of efforts and government is as well carried along for sustainability of activities in the event the partners leave government.
Abdulkarim said in the past there were duplications of activities hence the constitution of the partners Forum to bring to fore what they are doing in the state for appropriate guidance backed by the Gombe State health sector strategic plan.
He said every partner is supposed to key into the strategic plan to see how improvements are made in the heath sector.
Abdulkarim said all partners have registered with the ministry, and that there is a partners data base and through which the ministry looks closely the activities of the partners as well as identify gaps not yet covered .
Representatives of the Budget Planning and Partner Coordination Office, Gombe state Health Management Board called for synergy amongst the stakeholders and the ministry for health care development.
The Forum featured presentations by partners where they enumerated their activities, progress and challenges.
About 22 partners were in attendance to include, TCL, USAID State2State activity, Marie Stopes, LISDEL, MNCH coalition NI ABAE.
