GREENVILLE, Sinoe – More than 30 district health officers from across Sinoe have received training in data collection and use in Greenville.

The training is meant to ensure that health facilities across the country are collecting accurate and comprehensive health data and putting the information to use, according to Sasay Kpadah, the lead facilitator for the training.

“The Ministry of Health has noticed that, as a result of [a] lack of adequate basic training skills, there is huge information in the reporting system that is yet to be used,” Kpadah said.

“So this training will help to brighten minds and speed up with the reporting exercise at all health facilities or centers across the country.”

Sinoe’s county health officer, Jonathan Flomo, thanked the Ministry of Health for the training and urged beneficiaries to make good use of the lessons learned.

He also expressed concerns over the challenges facing the health team as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said even though the outbreak in Liberia has slowed significantly, he is still concerned about the capacity of his county’s health system.

“We been having serious constraints since the outbreak of the virus – the lack of technical [and] logistical support to enhance our daily operations still remains a major challenge,” he said.

“On the issue of the virus, we’ve been crying for support from both central government and county stakeholders, but all efforts [are] not actually meeting our needs.”

Specifically, Flomo said he was concerned about the level of fuel needed to run the county’s ambulance service and generators, funds for stationeries, and drugs.

“While it is true the central government is challenged financially, we will also like to sound this open call for whatever form of support, following our outlined challenges, to help reduce and boost our works,” he said.

To allow health workers to best serve the public, Flomo said they need the central government to intervene and assist with these needs.

Featured photo by Teahwleh Geeplay